Prior Warning
by Damn you Kylie
Summary: Tobias admits to Tris about what Marcus has been doing to him since before Evelyn died two years ago. Tobias makes Tris promise to never tell anyone what has been happening. But when Tris sees Marcus reaching for his belt, she does something that will change all their lives forever. Disclaimer: I do not own the Divergent Series.
1. Chapter 1

**PROLOGUE**

The two women sit on the bench watching their children play. It is a warm day and both women know that they can't stay here too long. That would be selfish. But the sounds of their children running free in the meadow is a sound neither wants to hear end.

"Promise me, Natalie. Promise me that if anything ever happens to me that you will watch out for him. Keep an eye on Tobias for me, please promise me that you can do this for me," Evelyn says.

This shocks Natalie; she can hear the desperation in Evelyn's voice. But she doesn't understand where it would be coming from.

"Of course, Evelyn. But you don't need to worry, nothing is going to happen to you," Natalie says.

The women turn back to watching their children for a while when Evelyn speaks again.

"Those two weren't made for Abnegation," she says.

Natalie can't help but laugh as she watches the children. "I think you are right Evelyn, Tobias and Beatrice have too much spirit for the lives we chose."

"Tris, Tris!" Tobias shouts as they are running through the meadow. Caleb had long ago stopped running with the others. He found their games tiresome and boring.

"Marcus hates that he still calls her Tris. He can become so upset with it," Evelyn tells Natalie.

"I hadn't really thought about it. He has been calling her that since she was born. I couldn't imagine him calling her Beatrice; it would almost seem unnatural now. I think Marcus would have bigger worries than that," Natalie says.

"I suppose we should gather them in, I really need to be getting home. Marcus will be very upset if I don't have his dinner ready for him when he gets home," Evelyn says.

The two women call for their children and make their way back into the Abnegation sector of the city, just as they are about to part Evelyn says, "Remember what you promised Natalie."

 **CHAPTER ONE**

 **TRIS POV**

It has almost been two years since Evelyn died. Tobias seems to be growing more distant every day. I don't understand it; we have been friends since I was born. He used to come and play with Caleb and me nearly every day, but since his mum has been gone he isn't allowed the freedoms that his mother once allowed him. It happened the day after we had been at the meadow with our mums. I only know this because it was the last time we ever went to the meadow. I miss the meadow.

I worry sometimes, he can look so sad. Almost as though he is in pain. I have asked him so many times what is wrong but he just shuts me down and runs from me. I have decided that I'm not going to take this anymore. Next time he is like that I am going to make him tell me. It makes me want to cry to see him that way.

I want him to be happy again. I know he must be sad because he doesn't have a mum anymore but I want to see his smile. I never get to see his smile anymore. My dad would tell me I am being selfish for wanting something. And if wanting to see someone smile is selfish then I will be happy to live with the title of selfish forever and ever.

* * *

I walk out of the front door of our house with Caleb; we always walk past the Eaton house hoping Tobias will be walking to school with us. He hasn't been to school much lately. I heard dad telling mum that Marcus told him that Tobias isn't right in the head. That his mother's death did something to him. I don't believe that. I know he is sad; I would be too if my mum died. But what dad said just didn't sound right to me.

I look up and Tobias is standing in front of his house waiting for us. I can't help but smile and I run up to him and I go to give him a hug but he moves away from me. It feels strange; I have always given Tobias a hug when I have seen him. We aren't supposed to do things like that, I don't really understand it. My mum tells me I will when I'm older. I am nine years old, I am older I think to myself.

Caleb sees what has happened and just shrugs when our eyes meet. We start to walk and Caleb is telling us both about something he learned in school yesterday. I'm not really listening; I was in the same class as him so I don't really want to hear about it for a second time. As I'm walking I think Tobias is walking with a bit of a limp, I look up into his eyes and I can see there is pain in them. I look down before he can catch me staring and I see something on his shirt.

"Tobias, you have something on your shirt," I say.

I reach out my hand and touch his top and I hear him hiss and he grabs my hand suddenly.

"It's fine Beatrice," he says.

I am taken aback when he says this. He has never, ever said my full name. Caleb can see that there is something odd between Tobias and me today and so he starts to walk ahead.

"No Tobias, it's not fine. You have never said my name like that before. Now tell me what it is," I say.

"It's nothing. Just leave it alone," he says.

"No," I say and I quickly grab at his shirt.

His shirt goes a little up his back and what I see makes me gasp. All over his back are long bloody red lines. Some look darker like it is dried blood but there are also fresh ones. No wonder he looks like he is in pain. I can't believe he can walk with how painful it all looks.

"What happened?" I whisper.

"Nothing, leave me alone," he says.

This makes me angry. He is my best friend and I want to know who could do this to him, I don't understand how this could have happened.

"No. No you are my best friend Tobias and you need to tell me what happened," I demand stomping my foot to the ground while I ball my hands into fists.

I can see a small smirk on Tobias's face and I think he knows me well enough by now that I am not going to let him get away with ignoring my questions.

"Not now. We have to go to school. If we don't I'm going to have more of these," he says.

"What do you mean?" I ask. Why would he have more wounds on his back for being late for school?

"Tris I will tell you later. I can't be late," Tobias says.

Caleb has walked into the school building and we are standing on the front steps. "No if we walk in that building you will never tell me. Come on," I say and I start to walk back down the steps and away from school. I'm sure I will be in big trouble from my parents but at this minute I don't care. I need to know what is going on.

"Tris, Tris wait," Tobias calls after me. I hear him sigh but I also know it means he is following me. I can also hear his footsteps as he gets closer to me.

"Where are we going?" He asks.

* * *

We reach the bench at the edge of the meadow and I put my bag on the ground and I sit on the bench. Tobias does the same and we just sit there in silence. We must have sat here for a couple of hours without talking when I finally say, "are you going to tell me what is going on?"

"He will kill me if I do?" He says.

"Who? Who is doing this to you?" I ask. I can't imagine who would be doing this to Tobias.

"My father," he says. It is so softly spoken that it comes out not as a whisper but more as a breath. What? How? Marcus has always been such a good guy. He runs our government, he helps everyone he meets. Everyone in Abnegation loves him.

"Why?" I ask.

"I don't really know. He keeps telling me it is for my own good," he says.

"We need to tell someone," I say.

"No, no no! You cannot tell anyone. He will kill me if he finds out that I told," Tobias says and I can hear the fear in his voice.

I finally get Tobias to tell me what he does and I am trying so hard not to cry. I really am but just knowing that my friend has had to endure so much on top of losing his mum breaks me. He tells me how he is scared to walk up a flight of stairs because his dad would hold him at the top and threaten to drop him, he has even been pushed down them a couple of times. How he knocked over a glass of water and was beaten unconscious. There have been so many times and for such silly reasons.

I can't believe that Tobias is still alive. He tells me how it used to happen to his mum and that he would usually only have to listen as his dad beat her. He only occasionally beat Tobias while his mum was alive but now he takes all his anger out on Tobias.

"Please don't cry Tris," he tells me. But I can't help it, I feel so helpless.

"I'm sorry Tobias," I say. "I just hate to think of him doing this to you."

"I can handle it," he says. "We better go, school is about to get out. We need to go home."

* * *

We start to walk home and when we get to Tobias's house his dad is at the door waiting for him.

"Get inside," he snarls at Tobias. I can already see he is reaching for his belt before he has even shut the door.

Panic overcomes me and I know I have to get to my house as quickly as I can. I run as fast as my nine year old legs can take me and I burst through the front door. Mum and dad are both sitting there waiting for me and I can't speak because I am so out of breath from running.

"You better have a good reason for not being at school today Beatrice," my dad says.

"Dad . . . Have to help . . . Tobias . . . Hurry," I say, as I bend over trying to catch my breath.

"What? What is wrong with Tobias?" My mother asks.

I stand, still trying to catch my breath. "Dad I know I'm in trouble but I need your help," I say.

"Beatrice what is wrong?" He says.

"I need you to go to the Eaton house. Don't knock, please. You just need to help him, he can't get to the door," I say.

My parents both just stand there looking at me.

"Please," I beg as I start to cry.

I think the tears are what work because my dad seeing me cry has him rushing out the door.

"Beatrice come and sit down and tell me what is going on," my mum says. We go into our living room and I can't get the words out. I put my head in my mother's lap and I continue to cry. I am so scared that dad will be too late. My mother rubs my back soothing me. Once I calm down a little I tell her what happened today.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

 **TOBIAS POV**

We walk up to my house and I see my father standing at the door. I can already see the anger in his eyes, even before he sneers for me to get into the house. I don't know how I am going to survive this beating. The last few nights have been constant beatings and by the look in his eye this is going to be a bad night.

I walk into the house and I just hope that Tris has gone home and isn't going to try to bust through the door and help. She would do that, it is just the type of person she is. But I don't have time to think any more of it before I am pushed onto the floor and I can see he has his belt out.

I try to get up but he kicks me and yells for me to stay down. I hear the swoosh of the belt as he raises his arm and then whips the belt toward my back. I hear as it connects to my skin and I can't help but to scream out. This only enrages him further and I keep hearing the swoosh as he raises it again and again. I can't stop, every time it hits my back I scream again.

Just as I think I can take no more I hear the front door open and all I can think please don't let that be Tris.

"Marcus what are you doing?" It is a male voice but I can't picture who it belongs too. I am in too much pain and I'm tense waiting for the next blow to come.

"This does not concern you Andrew," I hear him say.

"Marcus I will ask you again. What do you think you are doing?"

"It's for his own good"

I hear the swoosh of the belt and I tense waiting for the belt to hit me but instead I hear it hit something else. I look up to see the belt is wrapped around Andrew Prior's hand. He grabs the belt out of my father's hand and he pushes my father back.

"Tobias, can you get up?" He asks me.

I nod. "Good, now let's get you out of here."

* * *

We walk in the front door of the Prior house and Mr Prior calls out, "Natalie we need the first aid kit."

"Tobias," Tris yells and tries to engulf me in a hug without hurting my back. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I had to tell. I could see him going for his belt before I left and I couldn't let him hurt you again," she says with tears in her eyes.

"Tris," I say. But this is the only word I can get out. Between the pain, the shock and the relief that it was her dad and not Tris that came to my house I just stand there with my head on Tris's shoulder hugging her as tightly as I can.

"Come and lie down," Mrs Prior says to me as she directs me to the couch. She helps me to take my shirt off and lays me down. Tris gets a pillow to put under my head. I just want to lay here and cry. Nobody has been this nice to me since my mother died. All I have had is harsh words and beatings for the last two years.

"Tobias this is going to hurt," Mrs Prior says.

"No, he's been through enough," I hear Tris cry out to her mum.

"Beatrice I need to do this. We have to stop it from getting infected," Mrs Prior says.

"It's okay Tris. I'll be okay," I say.

While Mrs Prior opens her first aid kit I can feel Tris playing with my hair. This is when the first tear rolls down my face. I know I should try to be strong but I can't help it. I never thought I would ever have anyone be nice to me again, to help me.

Then Mrs Prior rubs something on my back and the pain is so great that I can't even scream out, everything just goes black.

* * *

I don't know how long it has been but I can see that it is now dark outside and I can hear voices talking close by.

"He can't go back there Andrew."

"I know that. It's just what do we do?"

"Well I made a promise to his mother if anything ever happened to her that I would look out for him. He can stay with us. He needs people who love him. We have always loved him, he needs us Andrew."

"I agree. There is no way I will let Marcus touch him ever again. It made me sick when I walked in that door and saw what he was doing. What's wrong with that man? He lost his wife and he treats his son like this. I don't understand it."

"Well he shouldn't have to sleep on the couch. We are going to have to organise something more permanent."

"I will discuss this with Marcus tomorrow. There are a few four bedroom homes on the outskirts of Abnegation that are unoccupied. We don't have much use for them. So it will get Tobias further from Marcus and give each child their own room. I will make sure Marcus will agree to it."

"He should be made factionless. He doesn't deserve to be the leader of Abnegation."

"I agree. But the council won't see it that way. They will want us to forgive him; they will take pity on him because he is a widower. The best we can do to keep Tobias safe is this. We will tell Marcus that he is to tell people that he thought it would be better for Tobias to be raised in a family environment. That he couldn't cope looking after the boy by himself."

"What if he doesn't agree?"

"Natalie that man is evil. He would not want people to know just what he is really like. I think he will make a big show of it, he will have the whole city throwing him a pity party."

"It doesn't feel like it is right. I almost feel I'm letting Tobias down."

"No you're not," I whisper. I hope that they don't hear me. I am enjoying listening to the Prior's talk. Knowing that they are trying to keep me safe. Knowing that they know the truth of just what my father is.

"Tobias," Mrs Prior says. "Oh sweetie, how are you feeling?"

"I'm tired," I say.

"Well you lay there and get some rest," she says.

"Did you mean it?" I ask.

"Did I mean what?"

"Did you mean I could stay? I don't have to live with him anymore?"

"Yes honey. We are going to do everything we can to protect you."

"Thank you," I say. And before I can hear her response I fall back to sleep.

* * *

 ** _Thank you to everyone who has responded to this story. Wow it has blown me away the support you are showing me. Thank you all so much._**


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

 **TRIS POV**

Once Tobias fell asleep I went up to my room. I am so happy that Tobias is here but I still feel so sad that he got hurt.

"You did the right thing Beatrice," Caleb says as he enters my room.

"But Caleb this has been happening since before his mum died. Why didn't I see it?" I ask.

"Beatrice you did what you could as soon as you found out," he says.

"But I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone," I say.

"You did the right thing. He isn't angry with you. You saved him Beatrice, it would have been selfish not to tell," Caleb tells me.

No matter what Caleb always brings up how we need to be selfless. But how is this selfless, I don't understand it. I just wanted to help my best friend.

"I just wish I could have done something sooner. You saw what Marcus did. How can he go back to his dad? How are we going to help him?" I ask.

"We want him to come and live with us," says mum as her and dad walk into my room. Caleb and I are sitting on my bed. Mum comes in and sits in between us and dad moves my chair over to the bed and sits in front us.

"We need to all be happy with this," Dad says. "We don't want Tobias to have to go back to his dad. But we need you to want this too."

"Where will he sleep?" Caleb asks.

"We are going to see about moving house tomorrow. We want you all to be able to have your own room and it will mean Tobias is further away from Marcus," Dad says.

"So what do you both think? Would you be happy with Tobias living with us?" Mum asks Caleb and me.

"Yes," I say. I can't believe this is happening. I couldn't be happier and we get a new house. This is so exciting.

"I think that is a good idea," says Caleb.

"Now there is just one more thing," Dad says. "We need to keep the reason Tobias is staying just between us."

"Why?" I ask. I don't understand why we are keeping secrets. Marcus should be punished for what he has done.

"Beatrice I know this is hard to understand but it is very important that we keep this to ourselves," Dad says.

"No dad, I don't understand. You saw what he did to Tobias. It isn't right," I say.

"Sweetie I know this is hard to understand but we need to do this for Abnegation. If people find out what Marcus has done to Tobias it could cause problems with our government. So please Beatrice please keep this quiet. It is the best way to keep Tobias safe," Mum says.

I still don't really understand why but I have already asked more questions than I am usually allowed to ask. So for now I know that I just have to be happy that Tobias is safe and he gets to live with us.

"Let's go and have some dinner," Dad says. We all get up and start making our way downstairs for dinner.

* * *

We finished dinner and I went to my room to go to sleep. I could hear my mother and father talking in their bedroom. Usually I wouldn't be able to hear them but my mum is raising her voice. I walk over to their door so I can hear better.

"Andrew, Beatrice is right. I hate having to tell her we can't say anything," Mum says.

"I know that Natalie. But what do you want me to do? I know Marcus should be punished but we can't afford this unrest for Abnegation. Jeanine will cause Abnegation so much trouble if we say something," Dad says.

I don't know who this Jeanine is. She isn't in Abnegation so I don't understand how she could be causing trouble for Abnegation. We are in charge of the government so how can she do anything?

"I just feel like we are letting all three of the children down. We want them to act certain ways but we are going against what we preach. It feels wrong," Mum says.

"Natalie I feel the same way. But I don't know what else to do. All I can think about is keeping Tobias safe. I'm afraid if we try to take Marcus on that he will do something bad to Tobias. You didn't see him Nat; I have never been so scared in all my life. I have never seen such anger. Even when I walked in he was still going to hit Tobias, it was only that I grabbed the belt and pushed him away. He didn't care that I saw, he was so focused on beating Tobias he believed that what he was doing was alright," dad says. "We are going to have to be careful around Marcus. I will go and talk to him tomorrow and tell him what will be happening. I am not looking forward to having to talk to him. I just have to hope that he has had time to calm down and that he doesn't try to fight us on this."

I decide to go downstairs to see Tobias and make sure he is okay. I'm really proud of my dad for what he did for Tobias. I still don't understand a lot that is going on but I'm glad that my friend is safe.

* * *

I sit on the floor next to the couch. I know Tobias is awake but he is pretending he is asleep. So I decide the best thing to do is to start playing with Tobias's hair. He is laying on his stomach because his back is so bad that he can't lay on it.

"What are you doing Tris?"

"Nothing," I say.

"How did you do it Tobias?"

"How did I do what?"

"How did you deal with what he was doing to you?"

"I would always try to remember that day at the meadow. The last day that mum was alive. I try to remember us running around. I always think of you laughing. I always love to hear your laugh Tris."

"I wish you didn't have to hurt Tobias," I say.

"Thank you Tris," he says. "I'm scared."

"Why? What is scaring you?"

"I'm scared that he will kill me when he sees me," Tobias says.

"No he can't. Dad won't let that happen. You don't ever have to be with him again," I say.

"But your parents are already fighting and I haven't even been here a few hours. I'm going to have to go back to him. They won't be able to stop him and I don't want your parents to fight."

"They weren't fighting about you Tobias. They want you here. We all want you here, even Caleb. So I won't let you go back to him. We will run away before I would let that happen," I say. I would live factionless before I let Tobias get hurt again.

Tobias laughs a little bit. "We can't run away Tris. We can't live factionless."

"Then you will just have to stay," I say.

"Okay Tris I will stay," he says. "Now go to sleep Tris."

I decide to stay here on the couch with Tobias. So I get up and lie down opposite Tobias but we are both sharing his pillow. I am so glad that Tobias is here and it is only a few minutes and we are both sound asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

 **TOBIAS POV**

I wake up the next morning and I am feeling really sore from the beating I got yesterday but for the first time in years I have had a good night's sleep. I look up and see Mrs Prior in the kitchen with Tris and Caleb helping her.

I walk into the kitchen. "Do you need any help?" I ask.

"No Tobias I think it would be better if you just sit and rest today," Mrs Prior tells me.

Mr Prior is sitting at the dining table reading the paper so I go and sit next to him.

"Tobias you will be staying here with Natalie today. I think it would be good for you to get some rest after what happened yesterday," Mr Prior says.

I just nod. I'm not going to argue with getting a day off school.

"Can I stay home to dad?" says Tris.

"No Beatrice you need to go to school," Mr Prior says.

* * *

I have spent the morning helping Mrs Prior pack up their belongings. She wouldn't let me do too much; she said that she didn't want me to hurt my back, that it needed time to heal.

Mr Prior comes home at lunchtime and says, "It has all been arranged. We can move into the new house tomorrow. Marcus has agreed that Tobias can live with us from now until his Choosing Ceremony."

"Tobias I know you don't want to be near your father and I will make sure you will never be alone with him but you are still going to see him around Abnegation."

"I understand Mr Prior. I am really happy that I can live with you," I say.

Mrs Prior comes over to me and gives me a big warm hug and says, "We are really happy you are too."

I feel like crying but not from being sad from being happy. I could never imagine that I would get a break from Marcus beating me. I thought I would have to spend the rest of my life with him hurting me. Now I get to live with my best friend and her family.

* * *

Tris and Caleb get home from school and Mrs Prior tells them how we are all moving house tomorrow. Tris and I are really excited but Caleb doesn't seem to be as happy. I walk into Caleb's room and say, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" he says. He doesn't sound very happy.

"You just didn't seem happy about the move. Are you sure you want me to live here?" I ask. I hope he is okay with it. I don't want to go back to Marcus because Caleb is unhappy.

"I would never want you to have to live with your father again," Caleb says. "It's just; you and Beatrice are best friends. I'm not going to be important to her anymore."

"Yes you are. You're her big brother. big brothers are way more important than best friends," I say.

"So what does that make us then?" Caleb asks.

"I can be your big brother," I say.

"Okay. But doesn't that mean your Beatrice's big brother too," he says.

"Well yeah I suppose," I say.

"So you are going to be as important as me?" he says.

"Caleb let's just be friends. I've never had a brother or a sister so I don't know how this all works," I say. I don't know what else to say to Caleb. I just want us all to be happy.

"Okay, friends," Caleb says. "Do you think you could help me with something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Mum gave me these boxes to pack up my stuff. Could you maybe help me hide my books in my clothes?" He says.

I laugh I never knew Caleb liked to read. He starts to pull books out of all different hiding places in his room. They are behind his dresser, under his bed, at the back of different drawers, they are everywhere. It's nice to be able to share a secret with Caleb. When my mum was alive we used to hang out together but he would get bored with Tris and I running around, now I know why, he loves to read. Maybe he will even lend me a book to read. Marcus would have beaten me if he had seen a book in my room, other than school books. I don't think Mr Prior would do anything like that.

* * *

We get up early the next morning so that we can start moving everything to the new house. Mr Prior took us to look at the new house last night. He decided to get the last house in the Abnegation sector. He said it was for two reasons, the first, because it had two bathrooms and the second because the house was next to the meadow where we used to go and play.

I was really surprised that Mr Prior would want us to be in a house near the meadow. It isn't very Abnegation to let your children run and play games. But he told us that he thought it would be good for us to have privacy to play in the meadow.

Abnegation like their members to have children. They actually say it is selfish not to have children but they also say that it is selfish to have lots of children. Which is all a little confusing for me. But it does mean that there aren't many families that have enough children to fill the houses near the meadow, which is a bonus for us. It means that we will be able to run around outside and Tris can run around and pretend to be Dauntless. She used to always like to do that when our mums took us to the meadow before.

Caleb, Tris and I are in charge of the smaller boxes and Mrs Prior is carrying the larger boxes. Mr Prior has been carrying the furniture we will need. There is some furniture in the new house but there are a few pieces that he would like to take with him.

We have nearly finished moving everything when there is a knock at the door of the old house. Mrs Prior opens the door and gasps. We all turn around to see my father standing at the door.

"Good morning Natalie," Marcus says. "I thought I should come and offer to help you move. It seems it would be the right thing to do when you are helping me out by looking after Tobias."

"I'm sure we can manage Marcus," she says.

"Nonsense, please let me help," Marcus says. I can't help but to cringe at the very sight of him.

Mr Prior comes to the door and he sees that it is Marcus and he does not look happy. Then he puts a smile on his face. "Marcus I think it would be good if you could give me a hand. Maybe while you are helping me Natalie could take Tobias to your house and they could collect his things."

I let out a sigh, a good sigh. Mr Prior is very smart. Now I won't have to go back into that house with Marcus. I see Natalie smiling I think she might be thinking how smart Mr Prior is too.

"Oh no, that is alright. I can take Tobias to collect his things," Marcus says. No please don't let him do that I am thinking to myself.

"Marcus I will go with Tobias," Natalie says in a very firm voice. "I'm sure Andrew has some of the heavier items that you can help him carry."

Marcus nods his head but glares at me with anger in his eyes. Even though I know I don't have to live in the same house as him anymore he is still scaring me.

"Come on Tobias, we will go and collect your things now," Natalie says, holding out her hand for me to take.

* * *

I put all my clothes, which aren't that many, into the box that we bought with us. I am looking around the room and I feel like I am missing something.

"Is there anything else you want to bring with you Tobias?"

I pick up my school bag and I am about to walk out of the room when I remember my blue sculpture that my mum gave me.

"Wait!" I call out.

I pull the trunk out from under my bed and I open it. I don't care about the other little knick knacks I have in there but I do care about my sculpture. I pull the sculpture out and just stare at it.

"Where did you get that from?" Mrs Prior asks me.

"My mum gave it to me just before she died," I say.

"It is very beautiful," she says.

"Can I bring it with me?" I ask. I know it is not something that is allowed in Abnegation but I am hoping that I am allowed to keep it.

"Of course you can. Put it in your school bag I don't want the wrong person to see it," she says.

With that we walk out the door and I can only hope that once we get back Marcus has decided to leave.

* * *

We walk back to the new house so that I can put my things straight into my new room. I'm glad Mrs Prior told me to hide my sculpture because Marcus is still at the house when we get there.

"Marcus you are still here?" Mrs Prior says.

"Yes I would like a word with Tobias before I leave," he says. I gulp.

Marcus walks over to me and he bends down to my level and he says, "Now you be a good boy for the Prior's son." He then hugs me. I stand there and can't move, he has never hugged me before and it actually scares me more than his beating ever did. He then whispers in my ear, "I will kill you one day for this Tobias. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow but one day it will happen. Do you understand?"

He stands up and pats my shoulder and says, "I can't thank you enough Andrew, Natalie. He is such a hand full, I hope he isn't too much trouble for you." And then he walks out the door. I stand there shaking. I have never felt more scared in all my life. Then I feel her arms wrap around my waist, I don't have to look to know that it is Tris. I feel my body start to relax.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

 **NATALIE POV**

"The nerve of that man. Who does he think he is?" I scream.

"Natalie, please," says Andrew.

"No Andrew you are not going to stop me tonight. I have had it. I am going to see Hana tomorrow and get myself a gun. If he harms one hair on his head I will kill him," I say.

"Natalie. The children," says Andrew.

"No Andrew they need to know. I heard what Marcus just said to Tobias and I can promise you I am not having it. I promised Evelyn that I would look after him. I can't believe he has done what he already has. No, I'm not putting up with this anymore," I say.

"We joined this faction for a reason Andrew and it is nothing like what we thought it would be. The corruption is at the highest level. Marcus is a disease and we shouldn't be supporting him," I say.

"Natalie I don't think this conversation should be spoken in front of the children," Andrew tells me. I look over to see Tobias, Caleb and Tris all standing together. Tris is holding Tobias and Caleb has a hand on both Tobias and Tris's shoulders. It is the most comforting sight I could ask for at this time. And for that I need to give these children the best of me.

"Andrew I think the children do need to hear this conversation. I don't want the children to have to suppress who they are and that is what is happening. Caleb is hiding books in his room; he shouldn't have to hide books Andrew. You of all people should understand that. He should be able to read and educate himself if he wants. Who are we to stop him from learning, isn't it more selfish of us to not encourage our children. Why should Beatrice be scolded for asking a question at dinner? Wouldn't it be better to give her the correct information than to try and hide behind our faction? Curiosity isn't selfish, but again aren't we being selfish by not encouraging our children. Tobias has a sculpture that his mother gave him. He should be able to have that on show. He should be able to remember her however he wants. We aren't supposed to have photos, so it isn't like Tobias has a photo of his mother he can look at. I want to be able to hear children laughing in our home. I want to hear their footsteps as they run down the stairs. So I am being selfish. I don't care anymore Andrew, I want our family to have our own rules not rules that someone else has given us. I know we have to act a certain way in public but here in our own home I want us to make our own rules," I say.

"I think you are right," Andrew says.

"You do?"

"I do," he says.

"Well how about we make dinner and afterwards we can sit down as a family and decide our own rules," I say.

"I think that is a good idea. Now how about we make the dinner? And I think you three can go upstairs have your showers. Put your pyjamas on and we can then eat dinner and talk," Andrew says.

All three children seem a little stunned and they slowly make their ways up stairs while Andrew and I get dinner ready.

* * *

Once dinner is finished and we have cleaned up we go to the lounge room and we all sit down together. I am sure that Beatrice will be the first with questions. She can't seem to help herself with her curiosity. But I am surprised when I hear Tobias speak up.

"I'm sorry," he says with tears in his eyes. "This is all my fault. None of this would have happened if it wasn't for me."

I get off my chair and I go and crouch in front of Tobias and I take his hands in mine. "No darling, none of this is your fault. Please don't ever think that," I say. It breaks my heart that he would blame himself for everything that has happened.

"Tobias what has happened to you, what Marcus did to you is not your fault," Andrew says. "We promise that we will do everything we can to protect you. We want you to feel safe here. We want you to know that we, and I mean all of us, want you as part of our family. I for one am glad we found out what was happening and I am glad that we have been able to stop this from happening to you. So I want no more talk of it being your fault. We don't raise our hands in anger in this house so you can believe that you will be safe here."

Tobias starts to cry and I wrap my arms around him and let him cry it out. The poor child has probably not felt this safe in such a long time. I still can't believe Marcus could treat him the way he has.

Once he has finished crying I leave him and go back to my seat. Tris is holding his hand now.

"Mum who is Hana?" Beatrice asks.

"Hana is a friend Beatrice," I say.

"Can she really get you a gun?" Beatrice asks.

"Yes she can," I say.

"How?" Caleb asks.

"Well I am not originally from Abnegation," I say.

"You're not?" Beatrice asks and I can hear the shock in her voice.

"No I was Dauntless," I say. Watching as the children all sit here with open mouths. It is times like this that I wish we did have cameras in Abnegation.

"What made you pick Abnegation?" Caleb asks.

"Well I fell in love. I knew I wanted to be with that person for the rest of my life so we decided to transfer to a different faction," I say.

"So dad is from Dauntless too?" Beatrice asks.

Andrew starts to laugh. "What's so funny?" Caleb asks.

"Your dad has never been a fan of the Dauntless faction," I say. "He thinks they are a bunch of hellions."

"What's a hellion?" Beatrice asks.

"So dad was Abnegation?" Caleb asks.

"No I was from Erudite," Andrew says. "I think that is where you get your love of books Caleb."

"So why Abnegation?" Tobias asks.

"Well Andrew didn't want to stay in Erudite and I knew he wouldn't be comfortable in Dauntless so we decided to start fresh in a new faction," I say. "We both knew we wouldn't fit into Candor, so it was between Amity and Abnegation. Neither of us felt we would be happy in Amity so we chose Abnegation."

We all sit there for a few moments as the children take in the information we have given them. It feels good, letting the children asks questions. Getting to know us not just as their parents but as people. It feels right and I'm glad we are being open with them.

"Now you all heard what your mother said earlier and I agree. We want you to be able to talk freely within these walls. We want you to be able to laugh and be happy. Caleb I don't want you to have to hide the fact that you love to read. But you will all still need to uphold our faction's rules when we are outside of our home. It is very important that we all do this. Do you all understand?" Andrew says.

Tobias, Caleb and Beatrice all sit there nodding their heads.

"Okay, I think this has been enough information for one night. Now I want you all to go up and get ready for bed. We will be up to say goodnight soon," I say.

* * *

I wake in the night to screaming. It takes me a moment to get my bearings and realise that it is Tobias. I jump from my bed praying that Marcus hasn't come to get him. I run into Tobias's room and I see Beatrice has got here before me.

She softly shakes him awake and he sits upright in bed and is breathing heavily with sweat covering his body. She wraps her arms around his body and tells him it is okay and that he is safe.

I get him a change of clothing and come back over to the bed and I sit down with both of them. "Tobias are you alright now?" I ask.

"I think so," he says. He still looks shaken to me.

"Go and get out of those clothes and have a shower, that will help you to get back to sleep," I say.

Tobias takes the clothes from me and walks out of the room to take a shower.

"Beatrice I think it might be a good idea if you stay here until he gets back. Just stay with him until he falls asleep. I think he is going to need all of our support to get through this," I say.

"Will he be alright momma?" She asks me with so much worry in her eyes.

"Sweetie I'm not sure. We just have to be here for him, okay? I don't think it is going to be something he gets over very quickly," I say.

"I hate Marcus," she says.

I know I should scold her for such harsh words but I feel exactly the same way. "I understand you do darling but we need to keep that to ourselves. Now don't stay up all night with Tobias. He needs to get his sleep so his back can heal. I give my daughter a hug and whisper, "it's going to be okay baby girl. We will get through this together." I give her a kiss on her head and walk out of the room, praying that what I have said to Beatrice is true.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

 **TWO YEARS LATER – TOBIAS 13, TRIS 11**

 **TRIS POV**

We walk in the house from school. Tobias is really happy this afternoon, not that he isn't happy usually but today he seems happier. Mum and Dad are both home and Tobias runs up and says, "Mum I got an A on my computer exam."

"Oh sorry, I mean Natalie. Um well I," Tobias says.

Mum has a big smile on her face and she goes over and hugs Tobias, "Congratulations that is great news."

"Thanks," Tobias says. But now he seems embarrassed about his slip up and calling my mum, mum.

"Tobias it's okay. You can call me mum while we are at home. There is nothing wrong with it. It would probably be easier. Maybe then Beatrice will stop calling me Natalie," Mum says with a laugh. When I am upset I call my mum by her given name. I know she doesn't like me doing it but sometimes I think that it is kinder to Tobias. I know he misses his mum and I also know how much he loves both my mum and dad. So I think he would feel even more a part of our family if he could call my parents mum and dad.

And that is exactly what is decided. I can hear mum and dad telling him that he can call them mum and dad if he wants to but that he needs to make sure he still calls them Mr and Mrs Prior when we are out in public. They didn't like him having to call them that at home, they felt it was too formal and Abnegation and ever since Tobias moved in our house has been the furthest from Abnegation as they could possible make it. We all put on a good show when we have guests or are out in public but not at home. Dad even found a way to get a camera and although there are no photos downstairs we all have photos all over our rooms upstairs, even mum and dad.

* * *

Caleb walks into my room with Tobias following behind him. I have just finished my homework, thank goodness.

"Want to come out to the meadow with us?" Caleb asks.

"You hate playing in the meadow. Why do you want to go there now?" I ask. I am feeling very suspicious and I am wondering what Caleb is up to.

"I do. But I found this book at the library and I thought you and Tobias might want to have a read too," Caleb says. I look over to Tobias and he just shrugs at me, like he is as clueless as I am about what Caleb is really up to.

"How is a book going to want us to play in the meadow with you?" I ask.

"Beatrice just come and have a look. I bet you will be interested once you see," Caleb says. He turns on his heel and walks out the door. He has that I know something you don't strut that he always puts on after he has learnt something new. Ever since mum and dad let Caleb have books he has been almost impossible when he learns something. He wants to sit there for hours talking about it. Tobias and I have actually both fallen asleep on him more than a few times. Which we laugh about later but Caleb never finds it funny.

"Should we follow?" I ask Tobias.

"Why not? At least he is coming out to play," Tobias says.

I stand up and follow Tobias out of my room and into the unknown of Caleb's latest interest. I hope he has found something fun for us to read. Sometimes when Caleb is in a really good mood he will bring home something that he thinks Tobias and I might like to read. Also he does it so he can use our library cards because he has reached his limit on books he can borrow. I don't mind because I like to read I just hate going into the library because it is always full of Erudite kids and they always tease me when I am in there.

We walk out the back of our house and Caleb is sitting in the grass. "So all knowing Caleb, what have you got for us today?" Tobias asks.

I have to try not to laugh at Tobias he is really good at teasing Caleb but he always seems to do it in a nice way so that Caleb can't see what he is really doing. Tobias gives me a look to say shh.

"Well my favourite brother and sister," says Caleb, "I think I have finally found a book that you will both like."

"So what is it?" I ask.

He holds the book up with a title 'Self Defence for Beginners'. I run over and grab the book out of his hand. "Where did you find this?" I ask totally overexcited.

"It was in the library. You two are always pretending to be Dauntless, so I thought this could be a good way to learn something about it," Caleb says.

I open the book and start to flick through the pages and I can feel Tobias looking over my shoulder. Caleb takes the book back off me. "Hey," I say.

"So I thought I could read the book and then I could show you the moves and you two can practise on each other. I can be your instructor," Caleb says.

I look over to Tobias to see what he thinks and he just does his usual shrug. Which means he will give it a go but that he can't promise he will like it. It probably means that he is going to hate Caleb showing him what to do but he also has that spark in his eyes when he is excited.

We stay outside for hours with Caleb explaining what we need to do, if we get confused then he lets us look at the pictures. I am totally loving this and I think Tobias is having fun too. I think Caleb is enjoying himself too, it is probably the only time we have come out here together and all three of us have been playing together since we were really little.

"What are you three doing?" I turn to see our mum has come outside. She must be home from her volunteering duties and we haven't started getting dinner ready.

Caleb starts a big explanation about how he found this book and that there are lots of others in the library like it. He tells her how he has been our instructor and that we are starting to get really good at the moves. I don't think I have ever seen Caleb this excited about playing with Tobias and me. We have had a really great afternoon.

"Okay well I am glad you have all been enjoying yourselves this afternoon but I need you to come inside and help with dinner," Mum says.

We walk inside laughing and talking just like we always do. If other families in Abnegation could see how we are acting we would be in so much trouble. But it would be worth it, ever since Tobias came to live with us it has been different. A better different, it almost makes you want to stay here forever. But I also know that it wouldn't be like this if Tobias hadn't had to go through such horrible things for us to all get here.

I still feel sad sometimes when I think of what he went through. Whenever he sees Marcus we are guaranteed that he will have a nightmare that night. It has never got any better, sometimes I wonder if it ever will. It doesn't help that when we are in public Marcus puts a big show on for all of Abnegation to see. When this happens Tobias can have nightmares for days.

Sometimes I sneak into Tobias' room when we are going to bed. Usually if I am with him he doesn't have any nightmares or I can wake him up before he wakes the whole house. But I can't always do that so more often than not we are all awoken with Tobias's terrifying screams.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

 **TOBIAS POV**

"Tobias can you come down stairs please?" I hear dad call out to me. I look over at Tris and give her a look to say I wonder what this is about.

I walk down stairs and mum and dad are sitting in the lounge room. They both have a serious look on their faces and I wonder what is going on.

"Come take a seat honey, we need to talk to you," mum says.

"Tobias Marcus is coming to dinner tonight," Dad says. Nobody acknowledges that Marcus is my father any more in this house. "I know this isn't an ideal situation for you but he has some news he wants to share with you. We also need to have a meeting with some council members tonight so that will happen after dinner."

I don't know what to say. I have been fortunate that the Prior's have been able to stop having Marcus over for dinner ever since I came to live here. Before that Marcus used to eat at their house at least twice a week. Of course he never took me to those dinners, it was up to me to find something to eat for myself. Which usually wasn't much, he seemed to take pleasure in feeding me as little as he possible could.

"Okay" is all that I can squeak out.

"There is something else also," mum says. "Marcus is bringing a friend with him."

I look at mum and dad and they must see the confusion on my face.

"A lady friend," dad says.

Then it dawns on me. Does she know what he is like? Does he do to her what he did to me and my mum?

"Tobias we don't know any information on their relationship," mum says. It is almost like she can read my mind.

I just nod. I don't really know what to say. Who would be stupid enough to want to be with Marcus? Doesn't she wonder why I don't live with him? Shouldn't that have alarm bells ringing?

"Now tonight we are going to need you to call us Mr and Mrs Prior. We need Marcus to think that we are all acting like the Abnegation members that we are supposed to be. Once dinner is over we will make sure to dismiss you children so that you can go back to the safety of your room. We won't let him be alone with you Tobias, we promised to keep you safe and we will do everything we can to make this as painless as possible for you. Okay?" Mum says.

Again I just nod. Mum gets up and comes over and gives me a hug. I hug back, I need to feel the security of her embrace at this moment. I know there is more to why Marcus is coming here tonight. I can feel it; he hasn't tried to come here since the day we moved in. He is up to something and I am really glad that I will have the Prior's with me tonight. Hopefully dinner will not last long because of the meeting they will be having afterwards.

* * *

I sit in my room and I don't really know what to think. Why would Marcus be coming here with a 'lady friend' if it wasn't to tell us he is getting married. Why now? Why can't he just leave me alone? Why can't he just stay away? I have a great life here with the Priors'. Him coming here will just mean more nightmares, more fear. Even though Caleb has taught me some great self defence moves I know it would never save me against him. Just the sound of his voice makes me wince.

"There you are," Tris says as she enters my room.

"Hey," I say.

"Mum told me about dinner tonight. Are you okay?" She asks as she sits down next to me.

I shake my head and Tris takes my hand in hers and says, "It will be okay. We will all be here for you. He can't hurt you anymore. We won't let him."

It makes me smile. Tris is so little but she has the fight of someone five times her size. I wish I had the strength that she does. I know tonight I am going to have to borrow some of her strength to get me through the night.

"Thanks Tris," I say.

"What for?" she asks.

"For being here for me. For making me feel safe. For giving me your strength even though I don't deserve it," I say.

"You're welcome," says Tris. "And you do deserve it Tobias, you deserve whatever you want in this world and more. You are stronger than you think."

I don't answer her back; we just sit there together in silence. Not an uncomfortable silence, it is just peaceful.

* * *

I can feel the tension in the house. We are all wondering why Marcus is coming tonight and I know that mum and dad are worried about what affect it will have on me. I don't understand why he has to keep coming back into my life. He knows that we all know what he has done but he acts so…. I don't even know how to describe it, it is so frustrating.

I have been banished to the family room, mum doesn't want me to break or burn anything because of my worry of having Marcus here for dinner. I really appreciate it but it just leaves more time for me to get stuck in my own head and think of horrible ways Marcus could still find a way to punish me. I am taken from my thoughts when Caleb comes to sit with me.

"You know they won't make you go back there don't you?" He says.

"Yes," I say.

"Then stop thinking about it. You are going to make yourself sick before we even start eating," he says.

"I wish it was that easy," I say.

"Well at least we aren't supposed to talk at the table tonight. So that is one less problem you will have to deal with Marcus being here. I just hope Beatrice can remember to keep her mouth shut," he says.

I start to laugh. Tris is going to have a hard time with that one. Caleb is laughing with me. We both know how she loves to ask questions. I don't think Marcus would appreciate questions from her.

"What are you two boys laughing about?" Dad asks.

"Beatrice. How is she going to keep her mouth shut at the dinner table tonight?" Caleb says.

"Mmm, we will just have to watch her and hope she can follow the rules for once," dad says. "Tobias just remember he can't hurt you any more, we are all here for you."

I nod my head and I'm about to say thank you when we here a knock at the door and I forget what I was about to say.

Caleb goes and answers the door and is greeted by an exceptionally cheerful Marcus and a woman that looks to be around the same age as he is. But I can't be sure, how would I know how old someone is? We don't even celebrate birthdays here, so age is irrelevant.

"Good evening Caleb," Marcus says as he walks through the door. Caleb just nods in greeting to Marcus. Caleb is so good at the Abnegation traditions. I sometimes wish I could be like he is, then maybe Marcus could have loved me.

Caleb shuts the front door and the Priors and I have all gathered in the family room now. Marcus sees me and comes straight over and gives me a hug. I don't know what to do I just freeze with my arms dangling at my sides.

"Tobias my son, it is so good to see you. I have missed you so much. I hope you have been behaving for Andrew and Natalie," Marcus says.

"Yes sir," I say, but it is barely a whisper. This is the Marcus that has all of Abnegation captivated. It is not the cruel and heartless father I had grown to know. He is putting a real show on tonight.

"Come over here there is someone I would like you to meet," Marcus tells me as he drags me the three metres to where the woman stands. "Tobias this is my wife Natasha. We were married last week."

I look at the woman that is standing in front of me and I give a nod of my head. Well I hope that is what I have done. I can't really think straight at the moment. Marcus has a new wife. Does she know what she has got herself into.

Before I let my thoughts run wild we are all ushered to the table. Thankfully I am seated next to Tris and not Marcus but he is sitting across from me and I can feel his eyes on me even while I am keeping my head down.

Most of the meal has been eaten and there has only been adult small talk which I just ignore as I eat my food. As children we aren't supposed to contribute to the talk at the dinner table so it makes it easy for me not to have to pay attention. This dinner is nothing like our usual dinners, which usually consist of Tris asking a thousand questions and dad trying to answer them all. But tonight she is doing exactly as I am keeping her head down and eating her food in silence. I can feel that she has so much pent up inside her wanting to come out but she knows that if she does open her mouth it could be detrimental to my well being. Maybe not now but at some time we both know Marcus is waiting for the chance to get me alone and beat me to death.

Tris must feel my tension and she brushes her hand over mine as she passes the food around the table. It is only a small touch but tonight it means so much and it reminds me that while I am living here I am safe.

"So Tobias, Marcus and I were talking and we would really love for you to come and live with us," Natasha says. "Would you like to come and live with us Tobias?"

"No," I almost shout at Natasha. I know that if I was at Marcus's house I would be whipped for this outburst. I quickly get up from the table and run up the stairs. I don't go into my room I just sit at the top of the stairs, I may feel completely panicked at this time but I need to hear what they are saying.

"Oh dear," Natasha says.

"Well I see his manners haven't improved," Marcus says.

"Caleb, Beatrice I think it would be good if you both go and see if Tobias is alright," mum says.

I hear their chairs scraping on the floor as they both get up from the table. I then see them start to come up the stairs, I quickly put a finger to my lips to shush them so I don't get caught for still being able to hear the conversation. Caleb and Tris both come and sit either side of me. Tris grabs my hand and laces it with hers. I don't have time to think of how good it feels to have Tris holding my hand because the adults have started to speak.

"Marcus I am sure you can understand that this would have to be quite a shock for Tobias. It has only been a few years since he lost his mother. I am sure if you give him some time he will be more receptive to Natasha," mum says.

"It is alright Natalie, I understand," Natasha says. "I think it was a bit of a shock to us at how quickly things have progressed."

"Well I think it would be selfish for Tobias to come and live with you both at the moment. You are newlyweds and should have some time to get to know each other. I don't think having a teenage boy in the house would give you the privacy that you should have at the moment," mum says.

I can't help but think how lucky I am to have the Prior's looking out for me. Mum is such a quick thinker. There is no way that Marcus will be able to say no to what she is saying.

"Natalie you are so kind. Thank you," Marcus says. I hear Tris let out a big sigh of relief and Caleb slaps me on the back. We know I am safe for a little while longer. "It will be nice to be able to spend more time with just Natasha and I. Which probably sounds selfish but I am glad you both understand."

"Marcus you are very welcome. We love having Tobias living with us. We are happy to have him stay as long as he wants. I really don't think that you would want to have to burden yourself with him at this time Marcus. We all know what happens when you get stressed. Don't we Marcus?" dad says.

I get up from where we have been sitting at the top of the stairs and I walk into my room. Both Tris and Caleb have followed and we all flop down on the floor. I don't want to keep listening to what the adults are saying. I know that I won't have to go and live with Marcus but I do feel bad for Natasha, I hope he treats her better than he treated me and my mum.

We are just sitting chatting about anything other than what has just happened down stairs. I am so thankful for having Tris and Caleb around. They help me not to sit and wallow in the pain of what my life was and help me to enjoy the new life I have been given. I always wondered what it would be like to have siblings and now I know. I can't believe how lucky I am, I could have still been with Marcus or I could have had people who didn't really want me around. But instead I get two really great friends who always make me feel welcome.

"Here's my three favourite children," mum says as she enters my room.

"We're your only children," says Tris,

"Well then I am blessed that you are all my favourites," she says as she comes and sits on the floor with us. Tris sits in her lap and I wish it was me in her lap right at this moment.

It is almost like she can read my mind because she then says, "I have enough lap for you boys as well."

I don't need to think about this I might be thirteen but right now I could do with the hug. So I move from where I am sitting and go and sit with Tris and Caleb on mums lap. We don't actually all fit on her lap but she makes sure she is hugging all three of us. It is so warm and comfortable in this big embrace.

"How are you feeling Tobias?" she asks.

"I'm sorry for running from the table like that," I say.

"Tobias you have nothing to apologise for. Now how are you really feeling?" she asks.

"I worry for Natasha; do you think he will do the same thing to her?" I ask.

"Well I think he will be in for a very rude shock if he does. Natasha transferred from Dauntless so I think Marcus will be in for a bit of a shock if he raises a hand to her," she says.

I can't help but laugh, that is the best news I have heard about Marcus in a long time. I would love to see what would happen to him if he does try to hurt Natasha in any way.

"Now Caleb and Beatrice I would like you to go downstairs and help your father clean up," she says.

"What about me?" I ask.

"Tobias you can make breakfast in the morning. I think today has been stressful enough for you. Plus I wanted to talk to you alone," she says.

"Sweetie I will never make you go and live with him again. I promise I will do everything I can to protect you. So I don't want you stress over any of this," she says.

I just nod my head and move onto her lap and let her hold me.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

 **TRIS POV**

I finish helping Caleb and dad clean up and I am about to walk upstairs when dad stops me. "Beatrice I think it would be a good idea if you stay with Tobias until he falls asleep tonight. There is a big chance he is going to have nightmares after what happened at dinner," dad says.

"Yes dad I will," I say. I walk up the stairs and I go and change into my sleep clothes. They really aren't that different from what we wear in the day time. I'm sure if someone from another faction saw me in them they would just think they were our everyday clothes. I wonder what is like to wear different clothes. I won't ever find out unless I transfer. I see the clothes the Dauntless wear and I don't know if I could ever be that brave to wear what they do. But at the same time if I was to transfer that is where I would like to go.

I knock on Tobias's door and I hear him call come in, so I walk in the room and see that he is already in bed. I turn off his light and walk over to his bed.

"They sent you to make sure I don't wake the whole house with my nightmares tonight did they?" he asks as I sit on the floor beside his bed.

"Yeah, they just want to make sure you are alright," I say.

"I know," he says. "I don't blame them; I would hate to be woken by my screaming too."

"Are you going to sit on the floor all night or do you want to get under the covers?" he asks.

"Under the covers," I say and I get up off the floor and hop into bed. This is the only time that I like that I am tiny for my age. Tobias is growing so quickly we hardly fit in his bed any more.

We just lay there in silence, we do this often. It has taken Tobias awhile to get used to having so many people around and I know he likes his quiet time. So I just lie here and hope he falls asleep soon and that the nightmare that is Marcus doesn't visit him tonight.

I can hear mum and dad getting ready for bed. The walls aren't thick in our home and you can hear what is said if they speak loud enough. Then I hear dad say, "do you think there is any chance he has changed?"

I feel Tobias tense up next to me and I grab his hand and hold it as tight as I can. Trying to reassure him that it is going to be okay, even though I'm not sure if it will be.

"I don't care if he thinks he has changed. I don't care if his step mum is from Dauntless and could protect him. I am not letting Tobias back into that house, I will not have him living in fear of his life. There is nothing anyone can tell me I just won't let it happen. You know I went and saw Hana. You know what I have. I will use it if I have to Andrew," mum says.

I feel Tobias start to relax again.

I hear my dad laugh a little and then he says, "yes I know what you have Nat. I also know that I don't like that we have that in our home. But I understand why. I couldn't imagine Tobias not being here anymore. It would be like losing one of our own now."

Tobias sighs and I say, "go to sleep Tobias, everything is going to be okay."

"Yeah," I hear him whisper back to me and it isn't long before we have both fallen asleep.

* * *

It's Saturday today which means no school. Tobias, Caleb and I are our in the yard practising our self defence moves. We are starting to get really good at it, even Caleb has been having a go. But Tobias is really good at it, it is like he was made to be Dauntless. He has such good coordination; I sometimes wish I had it because I can be so clumsy at times. Which just makes Tobias and Caleb laugh at me.

"You're all getting very good at this," I hear my mum call out as she comes outside and joins us. "Now we all need to have a chat about what volunteer work you are all going to do. Now that you are eleven Tris you all should be doing some sort of volunteer work."

"Ergh," I groan.

"It's not that bad Beatrice and you will be helping others. Now I have been able to get you Caleb a position working in the government building with your father. I thought this would be the most interesting place for you. Tobias you are going to the distribution centre, if you do want to leave Abnegation and transfer to Dauntless then you are going to need to build up some muscles. So there is a lot of lifting involved and I think that is where you are best suited. Now Tris you get a choice," mum says.

"I do?"

"Yes honey you do. Now you can either help me feeding the factionless or you can go with Tobias."

"I'm going to go with Tobias mum," I say. I want strong muscles too. Then I will be stronger and if I want to choose Dauntless I will be ready. But I don't know if I want to go to Dauntless, I like Abnegation as well.

"Okay well you will start next week. I need you to all do two afternoons after school. Now show me some of these moves Caleb has been teaching you and I will show you some of the things I learnt when I was living in Dauntless," mum says.

We stay outside for hours with mum showing us how to punch properly and using the moves that Caleb has shown us from the books he has been bringing home to block the punches. I had so much fun and I think Caleb and Tobias did too. I think every muscle in my body is aching from all the activities today. We don't usually stay out here doing this for so long but with mum our here with us we didn't want to stop.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE – TOBIAS 14, TRIS 12

TOBIAS POV

I walk in the front door from school with Tris and Caleb. Caleb is telling us something funny that happened at school today when we all stop in our tracks. Sitting in the family room with mum and dad is Evelyn. My dead mother.

I can't move I am totally stunned at what I am seeing. How? I went to her funeral. Marcus told me she was dead. Everyone who is in this house right now was at the funeral. Did anyone else know she is alive?

"Tobias," she says.

Her saying my name was the only good thing that I can remember from the life she left me in with Marcus. I just keep staring at her. I open my mouth but there are no words coming out so I close it again. She walks towards me with her arms spread out like she is going to hug me but I take a step backwards and she stops.

"How?" I ask.

"Tobias come and sit down darling. I think this has been a bit of a shock for all of us," mum says. Should I call mum Natalie now? This is all very surreal. All I wanted was for Evelyn to be alive for years. I would pray every night that she would come back and rescue me from that monster. That I could be taken somewhere where I would feel safe and feel the warmth I now feel living with the Priors. I am finding it very hard to take in that she is standing here in front of me.

I sit on the couch and Natalie comes and sits next to me. "It is going to be okay Tobias. Andrew and I are here for you," she whispers in my ear and then puts an arm around my shoulder and pulls me in for a semi hug. I sigh and keep telling myself that no matter what happens here and now that I am safe and I am with people who truly love me.

"Evelyn why don't you tell Tobias what you told us," mum says. I can't think of Evelyn as my mum yet. I don't know if I ever can. Natalie is my mum, she is the one who is here for me, who loves me.

"Tobias I am sorry that you thought I was dead. I didn't know that Marcus was going to tell you that," Evelyn says.

"I thought you would be better off with him than with me, factionless," she says. He started hitting me before she left. How could she have thought I would be better off with a father like that?

"I am trying to see if I can come back to Abnegation, I want to try and make us a family again," she says.

I can't stand to hear another word out of her mouth. She cannot be serious with what she is saying right now. I rise from my position on the couch and I say, "I will never join you. I don't care where you are I will not be with you, ever again. You are not my mother. A real mother would never have left her child with that monster. Evelyn you need to stay away from me."

I walk out of the family room, I then run up the stairs into my bedroom and I see the blue sculpture that she gave me the day before she took off. I pick up the sculpture, I scream at the top of my lungs and throw it across the room and watch it shatter into a million pieces as it hits the wall. I almost laugh at the mess I have made, the sculpture would never be the same again and it now is a good representation of how I feel my relationship with Evelyn is. Broken into too many pieces to ever be fixed.

The noise has both Caleb and Tris running into my room. "I'm okay," I say. "I just need to be alone for awhile."

"Come get me if you need to talk," Tris says and they both leave my room.

I flop down on my bed and there are so many thoughts running through my head. Why would Marcus tell me my mother was dead? How could she just leave me like that? Does Marcus know she wants to come back to Abnegation? Will I have to leave my family? These and so many other things are running through my brain. I can't think straight. I get off the bed and start to pace my room. I know I need to calm down but I just can't.

I hate my parents. That is about the only thing that feels real at the moment. Yep I definitely hate them. Why didn't I get parents like the Priors? I know I have them now but what did I do to have the parents that I have? I lie back down on my bed and I put my pillow over my face and scream again. I hear my door opening but I don't look out from under my pillow to see who it is.

I feel her weight as she sits on my bed and I know it is Tris when she starts to play with my hair. She knows this always calms me when she does that. I lift the pillow off my head and lay my head back down on it. Tris continues to play with my hair.

"I . . .," I try to say something but Tris stops me.

"Don't try to say anything Tobias. Just try and get some rest you have been through enough today," she says.

I just nod my head and close my eyes. I lay here and enjoy the moment because I feel like there are going to be a lot more stressful days coming now that Evelyn has shown her face. I don't know how long I lay here with Tris playing with my hair but I do finally dose off.

* * *

I wake and it is dark outside. I don't know what time it is but I do know that I am hungry. I get off my bed and I walk downstairs and I see everyone in the family room. I go and sit on the couch with Tris and Caleb.

"How are you feeling?" mum asks.

"Confused," I say.

"Your dinner is in the oven if you are hungry," she says.

"Thank you," I say as I rise from my seat to go and get my dinner.

I sit at the dining table with my food in front of me and mum comes and sits with me.

"You shouldn't eat alone," she says with the warmest of smiles on her face. So different to the heartless mother I now have trying to get back into my life.

"Tobias I don't know what rights we have. But if you want to stay here with us then we will do everything we can to keep you," she says.

"Thanks," I say. I have so much I want to say to her, to thank her. "I love you," I say as tears start to fall from my face. I feel so weak and childish but I can't help it. I am so scared I am going to be taken away from the people I now call family.

Natalie gets up from her seat and comes and sits next to me. She gives me a hug and says, "I love you too Tobias. We all do."

The dam walls are busted and I am now sobbing onto her shoulder. "Please don't let them take me away," I say.

"We won't darling, we won't," she says.

I wipe my tears and she hands me a tissue to blow my nose. "Eat your dinner, we will talk more about everything tomorrow. But for now I want you to not worry about what is going on outside the walls of this house. Just know that we all love you and we will fight to keep you here with us."

I give her a small smile and return to trying to eat my dinner. While I don't have much appetite my stomach is telling me otherwise as it loudly growls for more food.

* * *

I wake up in the morning and I can hear raised voices coming from downstairs. Just then Caleb and Tris come bursting into my room.

"Do you hear that?" Tris asks.

"Bit hard not to," I say.

"Well that is Marcus and Evelyn yelling at each other. Natasha, mum and dad are also there but they can't seem to get a word in. We were downstairs having breakfast when Evelyn arrived. Mum was trying to be nice but I could tell she would have liked to have punched her. Anyway that was all sort of okay when all of a sudden there was loud banging on the front door. Which startled everyone. When dad opened the door a furious looking Marcus was standing there with Natasha behind him. She looked really scared, like she knew Marcus was going to blow up any minute," Caleb says.

"So then Marcus sees that Evelyn really is here and he starts yelling at her. But she tells him to shut it and then starts yelling at him. Yelling about how could he tell you that she was dead and that he was a coward for hitting you. It just went on and on and we were trying to leave the room to come up and see that you were okay but we couldn't get passed all the adults to come up here," Tris says.

"Anyway mum started to calm them down and at least got them to move into the family room and so we made a dash for it. And even before we got our feet on the first step they had started yelling again," Caleb says.

"Do you think we could just sneak out? They could be going at this for hours," I say.

Then the voices start to become loud again. Marcus is telling Evelyn that there is no way that she can come back to Abnegation. That not only will Abnegation not allow it but none of the other factions are going to stand for it either.

Evelyn starts yelling back that she will take me to the factionless sector with her then. That I should be with family. At this stage I have really had enough. So I make the decision to go downstairs and tell them both to leave me alone. But I get to the top of the stairs and I can't move. I am frozen.

"I think everyone needs to calm down here," says dad. "Now Marcus I don't think you can be impartial in this matter so you are going to have to step aside and let the other members of the council deal with this. Evelyn do you really want to put Tobias through any more stress. If you go to the council and ask to be reinstated back into Abnegation then the whole city is going to know what has happened."

"Do you think Tobias would be happy to have your dirty laundry published all over the city? Does he deserve to be put through the ridicule of what has happened here? I don't think he does. He can't live with you Marcus and we all know why that is," dad says.

"I don't understand," Natasha says.

"It isn't your concern Natasha," Marcus says.

"I think she should know," Evelyn says. "Who is she?"

"I'm his wife," Natasha says.

"Well we can't be sure about that," dad says.

A hear a gasp but I'm not sure who it has come from, I would take a guess and think it came from Natasha.

Evelyn starts to laugh and I can also hear someone start to cry. Probably Natasha. I'm not sure, everything is a little chaotic down there and I just sink down and sit on the top step with Tris and Caleb. I don't understand how my life can be so complicated.

"The moment she left she was no longer my wife," Marcus says.

"Well then I will take Tobias and we will live factionless together," Evelyn says.

"Over my dead body," Marcus yells back at Evelyn.

I hear Tris trying to stifle a laugh and I just glare at her. "Tobias you have to think that this is kind of funny. You don't have to worry, mum and dad won't let either one of them take you away. I know you are still in shock that Evelyn is alive but listen to them. They are acting like children. Even if they did try to take you, there is less than two years before you get to choose at your Choosing Ceremony. They will probably still be fighting over you after you have chosen," Tris says.

"That can be arranged," Evelyn says.

And that is when I can't help but laugh along with Tris. They will probably kill each other before a decision is made. Which probably wouldn't be a bad thing for me.

"Alright enough!" mum yells. "I don't care about what you two think is right or wrong here. I don't care that you both want your own way. But if you want to carry on like this then go and do it in someone else's home. I am not going to tolerate this threatening behaviour from either of you. And as for Tobias he is not leaving here. Tobias will be staying here until his choosing day. Then he will make the decision on where he wants to live and with who. Unless he tells me otherwise he is going to be staying here. If he wants to have contact with either of you then I will schedule times. But under no circumstances will I allow him to be alone with either of you," mum says. "Do I make myself clear? I am sure that he will want to be as far from Abnegation as he possibly can be."

I hear mumbled yes's from both Marcus and Evelyn and all I can do is lay back on the floor and think YES! I hear everyone start to say their goodbyes and I am relieved that for now peace has been restored in our home. Hopefully both Evelyn and Marcus will leave me alone.

* * *

I am sitting on my bed when mum comes in and sits down next to me.

"I'm sure you heard everything that was said downstairs," she says.

I just nod.

"Tobias I have said it before and I will say it again. I will do everything I can to protect you. But if you ever want to leave that is okay too," she says.

"I don't ever want to leave," I say.

"Well you only have two years until you have to choose. If you want to go to a different faction then that will be your decision and nobody can interfere," she says.

"I don't want to leave my family," I say. "I mean your family not the family I was given but the family who have made me feel welcomed."

"Tobias I don't expect any of my children. Caleb, Beatrice or you to stay. Andrew and I came to Abnegation because it was the right faction for us. And I expect you to all pick the faction that you feel you will be happiest in. You will one day have your own family and no matter where you go we will always and I mean always love you," she says.

"I don't think I will ever have my own family," I say.

"Why would you think that?"

"Look at me. I'm so broken, I even have the scars to prove. Nobody would want to put up with me, I'm not good around other people and I can't even get a good night's sleep because of the nightmares. Who would put up with all of that?"

"Some young woman is going to be very lucky one day that you are in her life. You need to realise that you are a strong young man who is brave, selfless, smart, honest and kind. It won't matter what faction you choose Tobias that faction will be lucky to have you and so will whoever you pick to spend your life with."

"I'm not ready to spend any time with Evelyn. I am still trying to process it all," I say.

"I understand and I think she will too," she says.

"Thank you," I say.

"You are very welcome Tobias," she says as she hugs me. "Now go grab Beatrice and Caleb and we will all go outside for the day. I think we should have a picnic in the meadow today. Brush off all the negativity that has been in this house this morning."

TRIS POV

I am just lying on my bed after dinner. Just thinking about everything that has happened today. I hear a knock on my door and Caleb walks in. He comes over and sits on my bed with me.

"What are you doing Beatrice?" He asks.

"How can one day be so full of such bad things but at the same time have such good things happen?"

"I think we have both so that they can even each other out," Caleb says.

"Do you think he will ever leave?" I ask.

"No. . . well I really hope not," he says.

"Do you think Marcus or Evelyn could take him away? Would they try to do that?" I ask.

"I think they both have too much to lose to try and do that," he says.

"I hope you are right," I say.

"Me too," Caleb says.

We just stay there for a long time not saying anything but I am sure we are both thinking the same thing. Please don't let Tobias be taken away from us.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN– TOBIAS 16, TRIS 14

TOBIAS POV

I've been living with the Prior's for five years now and it has been the best five years of my life. But it is all about to change. I only have two weeks before it is my Choosing Ceremony. I still have my aptitude test to take but I know what I am going to do. I know I need to leave. I just don't know how I am going to tell my family.

If it wasn't for Marcus I would probably stay. But I still remember what he said to me the day we moved into this house and I am sure he will have no problem doing it either. Then there is Evelyn, who keeps trying to be a part of my life. I wish the people of Abnegation would ban her from coming into Abnegation but they haven't. They are too busy preaching forgiveness. At least Marcus was able to stop her from re-joining Abnegation. I think it's the only positive thing he has ever done for me. Although I think he was doing it for himself because Marcus only does what is best for Marcus.

I am sitting at my desk when mum calls me down stairs. I walk down to see Marcus sitting on the couch.

"Tobias your father would like to have a word with you," mum says. "Would you like me to stay with you?"

I shake my head no. I know that she will be close by anyway. I walk over to where Marcus is sitting.

"Have a seat son," he says.

I do as he says and sit so I am out of reach if he tries to grab me.

"Tobias you are going to have your aptitude test in a couple of weeks and there are some things I need you to know. I know you don't like me and that you would like to do the opposite of anything I tell you to do. But you need to listen to me now," he says. I feel like it is the first time he has been genuine towards me ever.

"The tester is going to ask you if you were aware in the simulation. No matter what, you tell her no. It is very important that you tell the person no. Now when you are in the test you need to pick the food instead of the weapon then you need to save the child. Do you understand me?" he asks.

"Yes sir. I need to tell the tester I wasn't aware in the simulation and I need to choose the food and save the child," I say.

"Good boy. Now on Choosing Day you need to pick Abnegation. It will be selfish of you not too. The Prior's have been good to you and you need to pick Abnegation to show how much you appreciate what they have done for you. If not, I will hunt you down myself and I am sure you don't want me to do that."

"No sir," I say. I can feel myself shaking. I can't believe after all these years how much he scares me, how he still haunts my dreams and turns them into nightmares.

"Everything alright in here?" Natalie asks as she pops her head around the corner.

"Yes, yes everything is very good Natalie," Marcus says. "Well thank you for letting me talk to my son, I think I should be going now."

Marcus rises from his seat and leaves. I can't move. I feel frozen to the seat. Natalie walks over and touches my shoulder. I jump at her touch a reaction I often have after spending time with Marcus.

"Are you sure you are alright Tobias?" she asks.

"I'll be fine," I say. I get up from the couch and walk upstairs and into my room. I feel like I have so much to think about but I don't understand why Marcus would want to help me. Then it hits me. He doesn't want me to pick Abnegation to show support to the Prior's he wants me to pick Abnegation so he doesn't look bad.

Abnegation as a whole don't know that I am living permanently with the Prior's. They just think I spend a lot of time here. We never try to correct this because it could only cause me more problems with Marcus.

* * *

I wake screaming and I am covered in sweat. As usual any time spent with Marcus causes me nightmares. Tonight was worse than ever, tonight he didn't just beat me but he had captured Tris and Caleb as well and was beating them with his belt.

I sit up to find that Tris is sitting on the edge of my bed. "I've been trying to wake you up," she says.

"I'm sorry. Did I wake everyone up?"

"Probably but I think we are all used to it now. Are you sure you are okay?"

I lie back down and just shake my head no. Tris hops into bed with me and she lays with her back to my front. I put my arms around her and hold her as tight as I can.

"Tonight seemed worse than usual Tobias. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I don't want to live through it again and if I talk about it . . .."

I don't know how long we have been lying here like this but I am really enjoying being able to be this close to Tris. I realised a few months ago that I didn't think of her as just my best friend or a sister, she means so much more to me than that. I know I can never act on it, but I can enjoy moments like these.

I can enjoy them until right now. I feel something start to stir in me and I know I need to move my body away from Tris as quickly as I can but not so that it is obvious. Shit! I think. I don't need this to be happening right now. Damn being a teenage boy.

"Tris," I say. "I think I should go and have a shower. I'm all covered in sweat from my nightmare."

"Okay, I'll change your sheets for you while you are having your shower," she says.

"Thank you," I say and then I quickly jump up and turn so I am not facing Tris. I don't want her to see the problem I am having at the moment. I open my cupboard and get clean sleep clothes out. At least now I can cover the problem.

I walk out of the room and bump straight into dad. I groan inwardly and hope that he doesn't notice the problem I am having.

"Are you alright Tobias?" he asks.

"Umm, yeah I'm fine," I say. "I am just going to take a shower, I'm all sweaty after my nightmare."

He looks at me and says, "I think you may want to have a cold shower son."

I can feel my face heating up and I am just glad that it is dark enough that hopefully he won't see how embarrassed I am.

"Yes sir," I say.

* * *

I walk into my room after having a very cold shower and dad is sitting on my bed. He gave me the sex talk a few months ago and I had never been so embarrassed in all my life and I am sure that this is going to be a similar situation right now.

"Come sit Tobias," he says. I know my face is already starting to heat up as I sit next to him on my bed. "You don't need to be embarrassed."

"Tobias what happened earlier is totally normal," he says.

"I understand that but . . .." I say.

"Are you worried because it was Beatrice that caused it?" he asks.

I nod my head. I really don't think I have words for what has happened tonight. I have been able to hide the feelings I have for her for so long and now he knows. Of all people it had to be her father.

"Tobias we all know that you have feelings for her. We see the way you look at her," he says.

"But isn't it wrong?" I ask.

"Do you think it is wrong because you live here with us? Or do you think it is wrong for another reason?" he asks.

"It's just you have taken me in and treated me like I am one of your own and I feel like I am betraying your trust," I say.

"Yes we have treated you as one of our own but that doesn't mean it is wrong. It isn't wrong to have feelings for another person. But you do need to be careful about whether you act on those feelings. You need to be aware of your ages and that you don't want to do anything that you may regret," he says.

"I would never act on these feelings," I say. "I know I love Tris but I will never tell her, I can't."

"Why do you think that way Tobias? Do you think we wouldn't approve of the two of you?"

"She deserves so much better than who I am," I say.

"Tobias I don't know where you get the idea that you aren't good enough for Beatrice. I don't understand your thinking at all. But I will tell you that although I wouldn't want to see you acting on these feelings just yet. One day in the future when you are much older I would be happy to see the two of you together. You are a good boy Tobias and you need to remember the positives that we tell you and stop dwelling on the negatives that Marcus once told you. I understand that it must be hard but you need to remember that both Natalie and I love you and we are proud of the young man you are becoming," he says.

"Thank you," I say.

"Well I think it's time we both got back to bed. And if anything like this happens again, just remember a cold shower can usually do the trick," he says with a small smile on his face. I can feel my cheeks heating up again. I am so grateful that he hasn't made fun of me but it also had given me a lot to think about. Do I stay in Abnegation or do I leave?

* * *

I only have one week until the Choosing Ceremony. I am sitting at the kitchen table with mum and dad. I was the one who asked if I could talk to both of them but now I don't really know what to say. I mean I know what I want to say, I just don't really know how to say it to them. They have given me so much and part of me now feels that I am about to betray them.

"Tobias you know you can say anything to us, we aren't going to judge you," Mum says.

"I know. It's just really hard to tell you what I want to say," I tell them.

"Is this about the Choosing Ceremony?" Dad asks.

"Yes," I say.

"Tobias this is the biggest decision that you will ever have to make. You need to think about what you want. Not what we want, not what Marcus wants or even Evelyn. This is your decision and you should choose what will be best for you," mum says.

"Ican'tstayhere," I blurt out so quickly that I don't know if they could understand what I have said.

"What was that, you need to speak a little slower Tobias," mum says. I put my head down, I can't look them in their eyes and I whisper, "I can't stay here."

"That's okay. Do you want to tell us why? Do you have any idea where you would like to go or are you going to see what your aptitude test tells you?" mum asks.

"I want to get as far away from Marcus as I can," I say. "I know where I would like to go. When Marcus was here last week he told me what to do so that I would get an Abnegation result. So I don't think the aptitude test will help me to decide. I think with all the training that I have been doing with Caleb and Tris that I would be happier going to Dauntless. I don't see myself fitting into any of the other factions. I want to learn to protect myself, I want to feel strong."

"Tobias a few years ago I told you that we would support your decision if you wanted to leave. We both left our birth factions so we understand that you need to go to where you feel you can live your life. But if you want to stay in Abnegation then we will do all that we can to make your life comfortable," mum says.

I start to shake my head. "You have both done so much for me and the only reason I would want to stay is for you," I say. "And for Tris," I whisper this part.

"Tobias you can't do this for us. We could never let you stay just so you feel better about everything that we have done for you. We all love you and that won't change just because you aren't living here anymore. As for Tris, well are you sure that she would be happy staying in Abnegation? Have you talked to her about how you feel?" mum says.

"I could never talk to her about this. I would never expect her to feel for me the way I feel for her. She deserves better," I say.

"Tobias make the decision that is best for you. We will support your decision whatever it is. It doesn't matter where you go we will always be here for you. You can always come to us. Even with 'Faction before blood' never feel you can't come here," mum says.

"Thank you. I have a lot to think about," I say. I rise from the table and walk up to my room.

I am sitting on the floor in my room when there is a knock at the door.

"Tobias I know you have a lot to think about but don't let Marcus dictate your life. Look within yourself for your decision. Remember that you are capable of anything that you put your mind too. You are a smart lad and could go far wherever you choose to go," dad says.

"Did you find it hard to leave your family?" I ask. Dad comes and sits on the floor with me.

"Yes and no. I knew I would miss them but I didn't like where Erudite was going. And I was so in love with Natalie I would have followed her anywhere. She was going to pick Erudite but I knew it was the one faction I couldn't stay in. Natalie didn't think I would be comfortable in Dauntless and I think she may have been correct with that. So I knew as long as I was with Natalie we would be good. It wasn't hard picking Abnegation although it has been hard sometimes to live up to the ways we are supposed to live. But I think that would happen with any faction you choose. I don't think there is one faction that a person could be completely happy with but it is what you want to make of it that makes it count."

"Thank you," I say. "I just hope that I can find some peace somewhere."

"Well I hope you find that peace too Tobias, you deserve it."


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN– TOBIAS 16, TRIS 14

TRIS POV

Tobias had his aptitude test today. I am walking home with Caleb neither of us have said anything. I think we are both nervous about what will happen tomorrow.

"What do you think he will do?" I ask Caleb.

"I don't know but I will kinda be upset if he doesn't pick Dauntless," he says.

"What? Why?" I ask. Shocked that he would say such a thing.

"Well I have been training you both to be Dauntless, so if he doesn't pick Dauntless then I would feel it was all for nothing," he says.

"Does that mean you expect me to pick Dauntless in two years' time?"

"I hadn't really thought about it that way. But do you really think you would be happy in Abnegation? Especially after what we have seen our wonderful leader to be capable of."

"True. I will just miss him so much if he goes," I say.

"Me too," Caleb says.

* * *

I walk into Tobias's room and he is lying on his bed. I go over and sit on the end of his bed and start playing with his hair. I don't know when I started doing this but I used to do it as a comfort thing for Tobias after he had a nightmare but today I think it is more for me.

"What are you thinking Tris?" he asks me.

"Have you made a decision Tobias?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says.

"Are you going to tell me what it is?" I ask.

"I think you know what it is," he says.

"I'm going to miss you," I say. I know where he is going, he doesn't have to tell me.

"I'm going to miss you too," he says. "But it's only two years Tris."

"How do you know that I will follow?"

"Because you won't be doing it for me, you will be doing it for yourself. You have always said that you don't fit in here," he says.

"What do you think it will be like?" I ask.

"I don't know. Probably a lot like our training session with Caleb just not as fun," he says.

"Do you think Caleb would come with us? He is pretty good at the whole self-defence thingy."

"I wouldn't like to guess when it comes to Caleb. He loves to read but he seems so selfless, it comes so naturally to him compared to you or I," he says.

"I wish we could stay like we are right now forever," I say.

"You don't really mean that. You would get bored being fourteen forever. Plus, you would have to keep going to school, keep volunteering, keep pretending your someone you're not," he says.

"True but I didn't really mean it like that," I say.

"I know," he says.

* * *

Dinner is very quiet tonight. I don't think that any of us know exactly what to say. We all know that Tobias will be leaving tomorrow and I think we are all trying not to show how much we are going to miss him. We don't want him to change his mind for us. We understand that he needs to leave, but it is really hard to let him go.

"Dad and I will clean up tonight. I think you three should go upstairs and have some time together," mum says.

"Thank you," Tobias says.

We get up from the table and make our way upstairs. Tobias and Caleb walk into Tobias's room.

"Are you coming Beatrice?" Caleb asks.

"I'm going to have my shower first, then I'll be there," I say.

I walk into my room and grab the clothes I will need and then walk towards the bathroom. I go to walk into the bathroom when I hear Caleb ask Tobias, "Are you sure you want to go?"

I know I shouldn't listen but I can't help myself. "I need to Caleb. I will never be happy here."

"Not even for Beatrice?"

"What?" Tobias asks. What? What does Caleb mean by that?

"It's pretty obvious you have feelings for her. You wouldn't stay for her?" Caleb asks him.

What is Caleb talking about? What feelings?

"Do you really think she is going to stay here when she chooses?"

"I think she would if you were here," Caleb says. Really? I have never thought about it before. I never thought that someone like Tobias could ever have feelings for me.

"She deserves better than me Caleb. She deserves someone who isn't going to wake her in the middle of the night with nightmares. Someone who isn't as broken as I am," Tobias says.

I walk into the bathroom I don't want to hear the rest of that conversation. How can Tobias think that way about himself? He isn't broken. He is so strong. Do I want him to stay for me? Would I stay here for him? Would I? Could I? I think I would. But the real question is, do either of us really belong here? Do I have feelings for Tobias? I know I love him in a different way than the way I love Caleb. But is it the same type of feelings that he is having for me?

* * *

I walk into Tobias's room to find Caleb and Tobias laughing as they are rolling around on the floor play fighting. It is funny to watch, Caleb is always so serious and to see him having fun like this is nice. But it is also sad at the same time. I can't imagine that he will be like this once Tobias is gone. It is a moment that I want to burn into my memory. If Tobias hadn't come to stay so much would have been different in our house. And I can't even imagine what Tobias's life would have been like, the thought makes me shudder.

The boys see me and stop what they are doing. They are both breathing heavily but they still have smiles on their faces. "Why are you looking so serious for Tris?" Tobias asks.

"I'm just trying to burn this memory into my brain forever," I say.

"Fair enough," says Caleb. "I think I might go and have my shower now."

"Good idea, I didn't want to tell you how much you stunk," says Tobias laughing.

"Do you mean my fighting skills or my body odour?" Caleb says laughing along with Tobias.

"Well . . .. Do you really want me to answer that?" Tobias asks him.

"Not really," Caleb says as he walks out of the room laughing.

"Well you definitely don't stink," Tobias says to me with a smile on his face.

"I would be worried if I did. I would have to try and have Abnegation change the soap they use. And I don't think that would be as easy as it sounds," I say with a smile on my face.

"I think you might be right about that. Could you imagine Marcus's face if you asked him to do that," he says. We both laugh at this.

I go and sit next to Tobias on the floor. I don't know what to say, I feel like I will start to cry if I say anything and I don't want Tobias's last memories of me to be of me in tears.

"It's only two years Tris," he says. I know he is right and I know it will go quicker than I am thinking it will. But . . ..

"I know," I say.

"If you ask me I'll stay," he says. His voice is hardly a whisper but I hear him clearly.

I start to shake my head no. "You know I could never do that," I say. I can see the disappointment on his face. How do I fix this? How do I let him know that I care, more than I probably should?

"Tris," he says. I look him in his eyes and I know I need to explain why. I also know that I have tears in my eyes ready to burst out.

"Tobias if you stay you will end up hating me," I say.

"I could never hate you Tris, ever," he says.

"You were right it's only two years," I say as a single tear falls from my eye. Tobias reaches over and wipes the tear from my cheek. "I'd stay for you," he says with a small smile.

"You can't Tobias, I won't let you," I say. "It doesn't mean I don't care for you; you have no idea how hard this is for me."

"You saved my life that day Tris," he says. He doesn't have to tell me what day he is talking about; we both know which day it was. "You changed my life forever. I can never thank you enough for that."

"You changed all our lives that day Tobias. We would never have had the life we have if it wasn't for what had happened to you," I say.

"I don't want you to come and see me on visiting day," he says.

"Why? Will you be too busy with all those Dauntless girls Tobias?" I know what I have said isn't very nice but it hurts that he doesn't want me to visit.

"Ahhh how can you think something like that. I just don't want people to see just how weak I am. If you come to visit I will just want to come back home with you and . . .."

I know that I have a few tears falling now. Every time one falls Tobias wipes it away. "Please don't cry Tris."

"I can't help it. I am going to miss you so much. I know we always talked about transferring but it always seemed so far away and now it's here and I know my life is going to feel so empty without you here. But it will be a happy day as well. Now you won't have to worry about seeing Marcus all the time."

"That will be a bonus. You know I'm going to miss you just as much as you are going to miss me, don't you?"

I just nod my head.

"Tris I'm going to go and have my shower. Will you stay here with me tonight?"

I nod my head and I watch as Tobias gets up and leaves for his shower.

I get up and I walk over and hop into Tobias's bed. I wish I could just cry myself to sleep but I can't I need to be strong for Tobias. No matter what he needs to leave Abnegation, he needs to be as far from Marcus as possible. Marcus will never leave him alone if he does stay.

It isn't long before Tobias has come back into his room and he climbs over me and hops into bed.

"Well you smell better," I say with a small laugh.

"I thought Caleb was the stinky one not me," he says back laughing.

"I think you were about equal in the stinky department," I say.

"Well I'm glad I had that shower then," he says.

"Me too," I say with a smile on my face. I love when we can joke like this.

"Do you think I could change my name when I get to Dauntless?" Tobias asks.

I turn around so I am facing him. Even though it is dark in the room I can see him. "You don't like your name?"

"I just don't want to be associated with Marcus ever again," he says.

"Well you could always change your last name to Prior I suppose," I say.

"I couldn't do that Tris."

"Why not?" I ask.

"Because then people will think you are my sister and I don't want them to think that," he says.

"Have I really been that bad to live with Tobias?"

"I don't mean it like that Tris," he says. "I mean I want them to think of us differently than that."

I know my heart rate is starting to beat faster, I think I know what he is trying to tell me here but I can't be sure. "How do you mean differently Tobias?"

"I think you know what I am talking about Tris," he says. I think I know too but I don't dare say anything in case I am wrong.

I can't lift my head to face him, I'm too afraid that I am reading this situation wrong. Tobias reaches his hand out and brushes his thumb against my cheek and it sends a shiver down my spine. If we were in any other house in Abnegation Tobias wouldn't dare touch me like this, hell, we wouldn't even be in this bed together.

Should I be in here with him? Should I make an excuse and leave? Now I have all these crazy thoughts running through my head and I don't know what to do.

"Tris," Tobias whispers. "Stop over thinking."

"How do you know that's what I'm doing?" I say, finally looking at him.

"Because it is what you do. You are worried that because we are in Abnegation that we shouldn't be in this position in the first place. Now you are trying to find a reason to leave. Tris you don't need to worry. I would never do anything inappropriate here," he says.

"Sometimes I wish you would," I say softly. I know my cheeks are burning red and I am thankful it is dark enough that he can't see them.

"Me too," he says.

Then he leans over kisses me on my forehead. We just stay in this position for minutes before he finally says anything.

"Turn over Tris so we can go to sleep, I think I am going to need to be well rest for tomorrow," he says.

While I am feeling disappointed that he didn't kiss me on my lips there is part of me that is screaming you aren't ready for that yet. I know that little voice that is screaming is right, I just hope that someday I will be ready and it will be Tobias that is waiting for me. I can hear his breathing start to even out and as I start to fall asleep to the sound of his breathing I pray that he can get a full night sleep without any nightmares.

And it just so happens that for once my prayers are answered and Tobias got his peaceful sleep. I hope that being away from Abnegation will help and that he has many more nights of peaceful sleeps.


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

TOBIAS POV

I wake to find Tris is still in my bed. I don't want to move because I don't wish to wake her. I also want this moment to last as long as possible. I lie here for as long as I can when I feel Tris start to stir. I feel her go to move and I hold onto her tightly and whisper, "Please don't leave just yet."

I am starting to have doubts about my decision to leave. I know that I told Tris that it is only two years but what if she decides to stay here? What would I do if she did stay in Abnegation? Could I live with that? I hate the decision that I have to make today. I hate that Marcus is the person that he is and it is because of him that I need to make this decision.

"Tobias," Tris says.

"Yeah."

"Stay," she whispers. "Please don't leave me."

She turns and faces me and I can see the tears in her eyes. Oh god, why does this have to be so hard? How can I take these tears a way? How can I make this easier on us?

"Are you sure that you want to stay here in Abnegation? Would you be able to be happy here forever? Do you want to have to look at Marcus every day and know what he did to me?"

"No," she says. "But I am going to miss you so much."

"I know Tris, me too," I say. "But two years will go quickly." I keep saying it will go quickly but I know that it won't. This will be the longest two years of my life. I don't even know if Tris will follow, I just have to keep hoping that she will.

"Tobias," Dad calls out and knocks on my door. "You need to get ready, it is almost time to go."

"Okay," I call back.

"Come on Tris we need to get up," I say. "Please don't make this any harder than it already is."

We get off the bed and Tris moves towards the door. "I have a present for you, wait here," she says.

I get dressed. The one thing I won't miss, the baggy grey clothing I am wearing. I walk towards my door when Tris walks back in. She is holding a piece of paper in one hand and a black t-shirt in the other.

"I stole the shirt from the distribution centre and well it has my scent on it. I know this sounds really weird but I'm hoping that if you can smell me that maybe it will stop you from having nightmares. I don't know what the sleeping arrangements are in Dauntless but if you have to share a room, well I don't want you to have to worry about other people seeing you have a nightmare," she says.

I can't help but to hug her. This is probably the strangest but also the most thoughtful gift that she could give me. I didn't think about what would happen when I got to Dauntless. "Thank you," I say.

I let her go and she hands of the piece of paper. I look down and see that it isn't just a piece of paper but a photo. It is a photo of all of us in the meadow. It wasn't often that dad came to the meadow with us but I remember this photo being taken. We had just had lunch and it took three goes before dad got the timer button to work. It is only one of a few photos of all of us together and we are all smiling. It was one of so many good memories that I have of the Priors'.

I put the photo and the shirt in my pocket. "I have to go Tris," I say.

"I know," she says.

I don't say anything else, I can't and I walk downstairs to say goodbye to my family.

* * *

The Prior's decided that it was better if they didn't go to the Choosing Ceremony. Well really I ask them not to. I thought it would only make my decision that much harder and I knew that it might stop me from leaving. It was hard enough saying goodbye at home. Mum had a few tears and so did I. Tris stayed upstairs which was probably a good thing. I know she would have started crying and I wouldn't have coped with that, Caleb and Dad both hugged me and the air was so thick with emotion. I am going to miss them all so much. I am on the bus with Marcus travelling towards my destiny. Marcus keeps repeating to me what I need to do once I get there. I'm not listening to a word he says. I just keep nodding my head slightly so he thinks I'm listening.

"Look at me Tobias," he sneers. This gets my attention. I raise my head and turn to face him. When I look closely I can see that he has a puffy eye and there is bruising starting to show. Looks like Natasha has fought back. The thought that he is beating her makes me sick. I wish I could help her but it looks like she can take care of herself.

"What happen to your eye?" I ask. I know I should stay quiet but I just can't help myself it just sorted of popped out of my mouth.

"Oh this little thing," he laughs off. "Nothing I bumped into a door."

"Finally found out Natasha was from Dauntless did you?" I know I am on very thin ice here but what can he do? We are on a bus full of people and soon I won't be in Abnegation anymore. He can't touch me.

"Don't get smart with me Tobias. It will not do you any good to upset me right now," he hisses in my ear.

I decide I am better to keep my mouth shut but I can't help the smirk that is now planted on my face. Inside I am laughing so hard that it is a wonder I'm not on the floor rolling around like a crazy person. I really hope he hasn't hurt Natasha and I am glad that she hit him back. I wish I had her strength.

* * *

I walk into the room and go and find my place in line. Marcus follows me and stands in front of me. "You know what to do," he says. "You know what the right choice is. I know you do."

I can't look him in the yes, I can't afford for him to see what I am thinking. I can't show weakness right now; I need to be strong.

"I'll see you soon," he says. I don't think so ' _dad'._ He moves towards the Abnegation sector and I can start to feel the freedom. Knowing that I will not have to live with the constant terror that he would take me away or just show up. He has always had a habit of just showing up when I least expect it. I could be walking home from school and all of a sudden he would be there to say hello. Or the constant Sunday church service where I would have to sit with him, although the Prior's always sat with us. I still had to pretend to be the dutiful son. I almost feel light headed with the thought of not having to deal with him anymore.

I am taken from my thoughts when I hear Max the Dauntless leader speak. "Welcome to the Choosing Ceremony," he says. "Today you will choose your factions. Until this point you have followed your parents' paths, your parents' rules. Today you will find your own path, make your own rules."

'Make my own rules', the notion sounds like a dream come true but I feel it must be a bit far-fetched. Don't all the faction have rules that we must abide by? It won't matter what faction I become a part of I know that they will have their own rules. Although after my time in Abnegation I know that rules can be stretched a bit. I would be happy to be able to be myself rather than the fake persona we had to put on in Abnegation.

I listen as Max gives a quick summary of what each factions' beliefs are. Over simplified thankfully or we would be here all day. I think about each faction even though I have made my choice. Candor, I would never fit in that faction, I learnt to lie living with Marcus and although I never had to do so while living with the Prior's. I have too many secrets I don't want people to know.

Erudite, yes I have always been good with computers but that is where my thirst for knowledge ends. It makes me think of Caleb and all the reading he always does. I'm going to miss Caleb. Amity, while I know I would enjoy the peace and the open spaces I don't comprehend the constant need to be so happy. I once overheard Marcus talking about how they put something in the bread to help them to stay happy. I just have to shake my head at that thought.

Max next talks about Abnegation. Yes, I have seen how selfless Marcus can be. The thought frightens me still, even after living apart from him for the last five years. I am shaken from my own thoughts when I hear the Dauntless start to hoot and laugh. Obviously Max is now talking about Dauntless. Yes, I think that is where I need to be. Around people who have pride in their faction and don't feel they need to hide their feelings. Although I don't think I will ever be someone who hoots or hollers the way the Dauntless do, I do like the idea of protecting our city. Of maybe being able to protect someone from something like Marcus.

"That is how we came by our factions: Candor, Erudite, Amity, Abnegation and Dauntless." Max smiles. "In them we find administrators and teachers and counsellors and leaders and protectors. In them we find our-sense of belonging, our sense of community, our very lives. He clears his throat. "Enough of that. Let's get to it. Come forward and get your knife, then make your choice. First up, Zellner, Gregory."

And so it has begun, with every name called I am one step closer to being away from Marcus. But it is also a step further from Tris. Not just Tris but Caleb, mum and dad. The only four people that I love. Am I about to make the right decision? I know they all support this decision; I know that they will love me no matter what. But can I live with the only contact being on Visiting Day? Can I wait two years before I see Tris again? That's if she does transfer. Can I live with my decision if she doesn't transfer?

I had been thinking only of Marcus since we got here and now as the names seem to be getting called at an even quicker pace I start to panic. Now all I can think of is my family. The Prior's have been so generous in their love for me, they showed me what true selflessness is. Can I betray them and really leave?

I see that the girl who was next to me has left, which only means one thing. "Eaton, Tobias," Max calls. I start to walk towards the centre of the room. I turn and look at Marcus and I see him nod his head. I look towards Max and I see a man who is standing tall, proud of himself and the faction he is in. I know in this moment exactly the man I would like to become.

I take the knife and cut into my palm, I curl my hand to let the blood collect there. I move my hand quickly so that I don't have time to change my mind. I watch as the blood drops from my hand and hear the sizzle as it hits the coals.

I am Dauntless, I am free.

For a brief few seconds there is complete silence in the room. Even the Dauntless seem stunned. I turn to face my new faction and start to walk towards them and then it happens. The Dauntless start to cheer and I look back towards Marcus. He seems stunned, other Abnegation members have started to move towards him and all I can think is thank god I don't have to ever look at him again. I stand up straighter and continue the walk towards my new faction, my new life and I know that I have made the right decision.


	13. Chapter 13

_Hi Everyone. Just a quick a/n to say thank you for all your support it is amazing and helps me to keep wanting to write. I have had a lot of request from people asking me to skip straight to Tris and Caleb choosing. I am sorry to say that it will be a little while before that happens. I have some character development I want Tris and Tobias to have before they are reunited. There will also be a bit of quoting from the books as Four settles into Dauntless. I hope you all stay with the story, I will keep updating daily so that they get their quicker, I might even throw in a bonus chapter here and there. Once again thank you for your support and happy reading._

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

TRIS POV

We are sitting around our kitchen table. We had all finished our breakfast a time ago but none of us move. There is a sadness in the air. We all know that we will not be seeing Tobias come back through that door tonight. Dad left with Marcus and Tobias, he didn't want Tobias to have any time with Marcus alone so he decided to walk them to the bus stop.

We should really get up and start to clean up the kitchen but I have no motivation to move. "Come on you two," mum says. "We need to get these plates cleaned up."

Caleb and I grab everything and start to wash up. We have just finished when dad walks in with Natasha. "Natasha," mum says. "How good to see you. I thought you would have been at the Choosing Ceremony today." Mum walks over to Natasha and says, "Oh dear."

Caleb and I look at each other and rush to walk out of the kitchen to see what has shocked mum. I walk out to see what mum is talking about. I look at Natasha and I see exactly what mum is talking about. Natasha has a black eye and a bruise on her cheek.

"Beatrice could you please put the kettle on," mum says. I rush back into the kitchen and turn the kettle on. I get three cups out of the cupboard, I know that Caleb and I will not be invited to sit in on this conversation.

"Natasha come in and sit down. I think it would be best if we sit in the family room," mum says. Thank you mum I think. If they sat in the kitchen we wouldn't be able to hear the conversation from the top of the stairs but I know that if they are in the family room, we will be able to hear everything.

Dad walks into the kitchen and says, "Beatrice I think it would be best if you and Caleb go upstairs. I don't think Natasha is going to feel comfortable talking and it may make it even harder if you are both here."

"Yes father," I say and I grab Caleb's hand and we walk out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

We get to the top of the stairs and I sit down. "What are you doing Beatrice?" Caleb asks.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" I whisper shout at Caleb. "Don't you want to know what happened?"

"I think we can see what happened Beatrice," he says.

"I know but what triggered it? He has treated her so well up until now," I say.

We both get comfortable and wait for the adults to start talking.

"What happened Natasha?" Mum asks.

"I didn't really believe you when you told me the truth to why Tobias was living with you. And Marcus made Evelyn seem like a raving lunatic for wanting to live factionless rather than stay with him. Everything has always been great between Marcus and I. I know that he expected me to act a certain way and to not question his decisions but although he had got angry in the past he had never lashed out at me before," Natasha tells my parents.

"What do you think changed?" Dad asks.

"I found out I was pregnant a few days ago. I could see Marcus start to change almost instantly. It scared me, the way his eyes changed. It was like I was looking at black sole less pits. Then last night he started to ramble on about how Tobias better pick Abnegation. I tried to calm him down but then he told me that this little bastard I am carrying better not turn out like Tobias has or there will be hell to pay. I lost it, I finally realised that what you had told me was true. I told him if he treated our childlike he had treated Tobias that there would be hell to pay. That's when he hit me."

"I was so shocked at first. I couldn't believe that he would hit his pregnant wife. But once the initial shock wore off I started to defend myself. He quickly stopped once he saw that I wasn't going to be a push over. What am I going to do?" Natasha has started crying as she asks the question.

"Well," mum starts. "I think you and I should go and collect your things. You can stay here until we can work out a more permanent arrangement."

"Oh no, I could never do that to you. I can't put you out like that. You don't have the room to fit another person in here," Natasha says.

"Natasha you cannot stay there. It isn't just you that you need to think about. If you think it is going to get better, then you are very mistaken. Especially after today," dad says.

"What do you mean after today?" Natasha asks.

It is silent for a minute and then I can just hear Natasha say, "Oh. Oh dear really? I thought he would stay. I mean he has seemed so happy living here."

"Well we aren't the problem," Mum says. "Tobias can't cope being around Marcus. The nightmares he has even if he has only seen Marcus from a distance have been horrendous. You have no idea just what that man put him through. You do not want your child living with the threat of that Natasha."

"We had hoped he had changed when he had found you and we could see that he wasn't hurting you. But it seems that the thought of another child has brought out the worst in Marcus again," mum says.

"Look lets go and get your belongings while he is at the Choosing Ceremony and we can work out the rest later. At least this way we all know you are safe and he won't be able to harm you ever again," Dad says.

I look at Caleb and he is looking back at me. I think although we knew what Natasha was going to tell us it is still a bit of a shock. We hear the front door close and Dad is walking up the stairs. "So I can assume you both heard all of that?" he says.

We both just nod our heads. "Well then come and help me put clean sheets on Tobias's bed. I think our guest may be staying for a little longer than she thinks she will be," he says.

* * *

We are all sitting in the family room when we hear very loud banging on our front door. I see Natasha's face drop and I know that she expects that this will be Marcus. The knocking is to loud for it to be Tobias and even if it was him he would just walk in. Although a small part of me wishes that it is Tobias I know deep down that it won't be. Hopefully by now he is enjoying the start of his new life in Dauntless.

Dad opens the door and Marcus storms into the house. "This is all your fault," he shouts. "You turned him against me and now he has left."

"Marcus have you forgotten why Tobias came to live with us in the first place?" my father asks him.

"I blame you Natalie. You have put fanciful stories in his head about how wonderful life in Dauntless is. That is the only way he would ever betray me, betray this faction like this. It is all your fault," Marcus yells.

I can't help but smile. He did it. He broke away from here. It also makes me incredibly sad. But for right now I will enjoy the fact that he is free. And I can also enjoy the pain it is causing Marcus. Because although it doesn't make up for what he did to Tobias, it is good to see him hurting.

"Natasha?" Marcus asks. "What the hell are you doing here? You should be at home making my dinner."

I watch as mum moves towards the kitchen. I wonder what she is doing.

"Natasha I will ask you again. What are you doing here?"

"Marcus it has come to our attention that you have been treating Natasha appallingly. She will be staying with us until a more permanent arrangement can be made," dad says.

"I don't think so," Marcus says. "Get your things Natasha we are leaving."

"No," Natasha says. "I am going to be staying here."

Marcus walks into the family room and starts to try and pull Natasha out of her chair.

"Stop," my mother yells. I look over to where my mother is standing and she is holding a gun and it is pointed towards Marcus.

Marcus freezes.

"Let go of her," mum says.

"How dare you," Marcus says. "I am the leader of Abnegation. You cannot threaten me like this. I will not stand for it."

My mother lets out a laugh. "I don't really care who you think you are Marcus. I am not going to let you harm another person. Was it not bad enough what you did to Evelyn? Then to start on an innocent child. Now you want us to allow you to beat your wife, the mother of your unborn child. I don't think so. It all stops now. Now you can either walk out the front door Marcus or you can leave in a body bag. It's your choice but remember I am originally from Dauntless and I won't miss."

Marcus slowly let's go of Natasha and starts to make his way towards the door. Just as he reaches for the handle he says, "this is not over. I will make sure you are all made factionless for this."

"No Marcus that will not be happening. I will be calling an emergency council meeting tomorrow and you better hope that your fellow Abnegation are more forgiving than we are. Or you may find yourself factionless by the end of the day," dad says.

We watch as Marcus leaves. You can feel the tension leave the air as soon as the door is closed behind him.

"Natalie could you please put that thing away now," dad asks mum. "I think it may be a good idea if we lock our doors tonight."

We don't usually lock our doors in Abnegation. But I can understand dads concerns. The look on Marcus's face as he was leaving was extremely scary. It reminds me of the stories Tobias used to tell me of how Marcus was when he would get angry.

"Okay I think that has been enough drama for one night. Beatrice, Caleb I think it is time for you to get ready for bed. I think tomorrow is going to be a long day. Natalie I will probably need you and the kids to help out with the initiates in the morning. I am going to have to try and sort this mess out with the council as soon as possible. I think Marcus has blown his last chance, it is time we have him removed from the council. I would request for him to be factionless but I am afraid of what he may do to Evelyn," dad says.

With this Caleb and I say our good nights and walk upstairs. I wish Tobias had been here to see what had just happened. I know mum and dad were to kind to Marcus after they found out what he had done to Tobias. Hopefully now they can get something done about him. Otherwise I know we will all be living in fear of what he may do to Natasha.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

TOBIAS POV

When I reach the Dauntless section of the Choosing Ceremony I take the seat offered to me by the Dauntless man sitting in the front row. Usually I would have said 'no thank you' and just stood but in this moment I feel the need to sit. As I sit down I take a moment to breathe large gulps of air. I am finally free.

I don't think I ever imagined that this day would come. Yes I had been given a wonderful opportunity to live with the Prior's but I don't think they could have ever understood the feelings I felt having to see Marcus all the time. Just because the abuse was taken away there is so much more to it than just stopping the abuser. And Marcus seemed to take great pride in being able to torment me with his presence.

It is amazing just how far a person will go to constantly try to show dominance over another. I don't think it was until the moment that I cut my hand that I realised just how far the abuse Marcus inflicted on me went. I will always be grateful for what the Prior's have given me, what they have shown me but it has taken leaving my faction to finally feel that I may have a chance to heal. Although I don't think I will ever be whole again, I even wonder if I was ever whole. Why else would Marcus do the things he did if I had been? Why did Evelyn abandon me if I was?

Right now isn't a time for reflection or self-pity as I can see the Dauntless are now rising and making their way to the door. For now, I need to concentrate on getting through initiation, there will be time later to look at what has happened and to see if I can find myself a place within this faction they call Dauntless. Right now I need to get up and start to run so I am not left behind. I don't think I could stand having to see Evelyn tonight because I am factionless already and I wouldn't want to have to have Tris hand me food or clothing in the coming days because I couldn't keep up. That would be much harder to cope with than what Marcus has ever put me through.

* * *

I am standing on the train platform with the many Dauntless when I hear a familiar voice. "You're not a bad runner," Tori the woman who administered my aptitude test says. "At least for an Abnegation kid."

"Thanks," I say.

"You know what's going to happen next, right?" She turns and points at a light in the distance, fixed to the front of an oncoming train. "It's not going to stop. It's just going to slow down a little. And if you don't make it on that's it for you. Factionless. It's that easy to get kicked out."

I just nod. The thought of being factionless is a great motivator for me to make it onto this train. I will not become factionless; I don't care what I have to do. I will succeed.

Tori grins at me. "You're going to do just fine here, aren't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

She shrugs. "You strike me as someone who's ready to fight, that's all."

I don't think she realises just how correct her statement is, but she will. I have a lot to prove, not just for myself but for everyone who doesn't believe an Abnegation transfer can belong in Dauntless.

I follow Tori as she runs, copying her movements as she prepares to jump onto the train. I yank myself onto the train but wasn't prepared for the turning of the train and I stumble and smack my face against the wall.

"Smooth," one of the Dauntless comments.

"Finesse is for Erudite show-offs," Tori says. "He made it on the train, Amar, that's what counts."

"He's supposed to be in the other car, though. With the other initiates," Amar says. "If he's friends with you, I guess it's okay. What's your name, Stiff?"

"You can call me 'Stiff' for all I care," I say. I hate that the other factions call anyone from Abnegation 'Stiff' but at the moment 'stiff' is a much better option than letting people know that I am the son of Marcus Eaton. This is a new start and for that I don't ever want to have to be associated with my 'father', ever again.

Tori looks at me strangely and I am afraid that she will tell Amar my name but instead she gives me a small nod of understanding. Although I'm sure she has no idea why I don't want to say my name I am grateful that she respects my decision not to mention it.

I sit crouched against the wall of the train with my head in my hands. Trying to block out the world around me. I have no idea what to expect as we make our way towards the Dauntless compound.

Too soon I am taken from my own thoughts when Amar nudges my foot. I look up and he says, "Get up, Stiff. It's almost time to jump."

"Jump?" How can I be surprised at this, of course we will have to jump.

"Yeah," he smirks. "This train stops for no one."

Tori stands right behind me and pushes me toward the doorway. What the hell is she doing?

"Let the initiate off first!" she shouts.

"What are you doing?" I hiss.

"I'm doing you a favour!" she tells me as she shoves me toward the opening.

The other Dauntless step aside and I can feel them all staring. They have grins on their faces like they know some big secret that I don't. I don't like the feeling at all but I also can understand now why she said she was doing me a favour. To jump off the train first will help me to have some credibility among these people.

I look ahead and I see where I am supposed to jump. I see the Dauntless ahead jumping and I can't believe that I need to jump from a moving train several stories above the ground onto a rooftop. I hope I am not the person who is going to miss the ledge and fall to my death.

I take a running leap and jump, the impact shudders through me and I fall forward onto my hands and knees. The gravel from the roof digs into my palms and I wonder whose idea it was to put gravel on the roof.

I brush myself off and ignore the comment from a Dauntless next to me, "I was hoping we would get to scrape some Stiff pancake off the pavement later."

Living in Abnegation you get used to the constant comments made from the other factions. I would hope the fact that I chose Dauntless would curb the constant comments but it looks like I was wrong. It just makes me want to prove myself even more.

"Welcome to Dauntless!" Amar shouts as he steps up onto the ledge of the roof. "Where you either face your fears and try not to die in the process, or you leave a coward. We've got a record low of faction transfers this year, unsurprisingly."

The Dauntless around Amar punch the air and whoop, hearing the fact that no one wants to join them as a banner of pride.

"The only way to get into the Dauntless compound from this rooftop is to jump of this ledge," Amar says, opening his arms wide to indicate the empty space around him. He tilts back on his heels and waves his arms around, like he's about to fall, then catches himself and grins.

The motion makes me feel sick and reminds me of when Marcus used to hang me over the railing of our stair case. The panic I would feel that he would drop me is exactly the same feeling I am having now.

"As usual, I offer the opportunity to go first to our initiates, Dauntless-born or not."

One of the Dauntless steps up, a dark-skinned boy who beckons cheers from his friends with his hands.

"Go Zeke!" one of the girl's shouts.

Zeke hops onto the ledge but misjudges the jump and tips forward right away, losing his balance. He yells something unintelligible and disappears. His Dauntless friends burst into laughter. I don't think that was the dramatic, heroic moment he had in mind.

I watch as the line slowly gets shorter and I know that it will be my turn soon. I just jumped off a moving train onto the top of a building. How hard could this be? It feels like the hardest thing in the world at this moment. I almost wish I was Zeke with his ridiculous jump, at least then I would have already jumped. I take deep breaths hoping that it will help to calm me.

I see that all the other initiates have jumped and I am the last to jump. I can see the members are moving in closer excited that they will get a turn once I have gone. It can't be that bad if the members are lining up to do it. Obviously they have done it before and are happy to do it again.

I get up onto the ledge and wait for Amar to tell me it is safe to jump. "Go ahead," Amar says.

I close my eyes, and I am frozen. I tilt forward and let my body fall, my stomach drops and my limbs flail at my sides as I pray this feeling will stop quickly and then I feel something curl around my body and all the air is taken from my lungs. I've hit a net and it could not have come soon enough. I know I will not be doing that again any time soon.

"The Stiff!" I pull myself off the net to see Max standing in front of me on the wooden platform. "Nice to see you made it this far. Go join your fellow initiates. Amar will be down in a second. I'm sure."

I walk over to the other transfers and an Amity girl smiles at me. "That was surprisingly fun," she says. "I'm Mia. You okay?"

"It looks like he's trying not to throw up," a Candor boy says.

"Just let it happen, man," another Candor boy adds. "We'd love to see a show."

"Shut up," I snap. Thankfully they do. It never crossed my mind that I could speak my mind like this with other people. Whenever I was out in public I had certain rules I had to uphold but now I don't have those rules. It is just another reminder that I am no longer in Abnegation.

* * *

"That's it?" Amar says. "that's all there is? God, Stiff."

I have just come out of my fear simulation. Whoever thought this was the best way to start initiation is crazy. Why would they want us to go through that? I hope it taught them a lot because I don't feel like I learnt a damn thing.

Amar offers me his hand and he helps pull me to my feet. I hate that he has been able to see my fears, I hate that he could see the torture that Marcus had put me through.

"We should come up with another name for you," he says casually. "Something tougher than 'Stiff'. Like 'Blade' or 'Killer' or something."

I look at him to see that he is smiling. Although I can see some pity in his smile there isn't as much as I thought there would be.

"I wouldn't want to tell people my name either," he says. "Come on, let's get some food."

If feels like days since I had breakfast this morning. We walk into the dining hall and Amar walks me over to the initiates' table. I sit down in one of the empty chairs. Although I am completely starving there is part of me that feels like I will throw up if I eat after the simulation.

"Jeez, Stiff. You look like you're about to faint," I boy named Eric says. One of the Candor boy's grins.

"You all made it out alive," Amar says. "Congratulations. You made it through the first day of initiation, with varying degrees of success." He looks at Eric. "None of you did as well as Four over her, though."

He points at me as he speaks. I frown—Four? Is he talking about my fears?

"Hey Tori," Amar calls over his shoulder. "You ever hear of anyone having only four fears in their fear landscape?"

"Last I heard, the record was seven or eight. Why?" Tori calls back.

"I've got a transfer over here with only four fears."

Tori points at me, and Amar nods.

"That's gotta be a new record," Tori says.

"Well done," Amar says to me. Then he turns and walks toward Tori's table.

All the other initiates are now staring at me. I was hoping to just blend into the background, get through initiation. But that isn't about to happen. While Amar may have given me a new name he has given me a whole lot more. He has given me power. I just hope that I don't become another Marcus with it.

"What's your real name, again? Starts with an _E_ . . . ?" Eric asks me.

If I wasn't already worried about the type of person Eric was after watching him go through his fear simulation, I know now that he is someone I am going to have to watch out for. While the other initiates don't seem to care what my name was. Eric is the type who will use it if it will help him to get ahead. While I may have the power, Eric is the one who wants the power. And I am sure he will do whatever it takes to get it.

I hesitate for a moment, then put my elbows on the table and raise an eyebrow at him.

"My name is Four," I say. "Call me 'Stiff' again and you and I will have a problem."

He just rolls his eyes, but I know I've made myself clear.

I have a new name, which means I can be a new person. Someone who doesn't put up with cutting comments from Erudite know-it-alls. Someone who can cut back.

Someone who is finally ready to fight.

Four.


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

TRIS POV

It has only been a few days since Tobias left but the mood in our home has already changed. I'm sure it also has to do with the fact that Natasha is currently living with us. There isn't the usual noise of three teenagers running through the house. The mood has been sombre.

I am sure that it doesn't just belong to the fact that Tobias is no longer here. Dad has been extremely serious and has had a lot on his mind. Marcus has been arrested and taken to Candor. While Abnegation is usually preaching forgiveness they have decided that Marcus needs to be held accountable for his actions. Thank goodness.

Both Evelyn and Natasha have written statements stating the abuse they have endured under Marcus's roof. Dad has kept Tobias out of this. He said that he will only make him get involved if he has too. He wants him to have a chance of a new life without the past hanging over his head. I think he is feeling guilty for not doing more when Tobias first came to live with us. I heard him tell mum that he regrets that he put the faction before Tobias and that if he had done something sooner than Natasha wouldn't be going through what she is going through either.

Dad was also surprised to find out just how many people had helped Marcus to cover up that Evelyn wasn't in fact dead. The matter has turned the council upside down. With so many people involved they have had to reassess just who is on the council and how many. Dad has been made interim leader and he has had to spend a lot of time away from us trying to reunite our faction.

Erudite and their leader Jeanine Matthews have been extremely vocal in their need to want to take power from Abnegation. I can see why dad didn't take steps when Tobias first came to us to have Marcus removed. But I can also see that it has caused more lives to be affected than should have ever been. I just hope that once Marcus has been put on trial at Candor that we can all get back to normal.

I don't think Erudite are going to let this go any time soon. There are almost daily reports being released from Erudite about the corruption that is in Abnegation. The only report that seems to be correct is the report about Marcus.

* * *

Caleb and I have been helping with the initiates. It is the most boring job ever. It has been a good distraction for me. While the rest of the faction's children are on holidays, Abnegation have always made their dependants volunteer over the holidays. The last few years Tobias and I would work at the distribution centre and Caleb always helped in dads' office. But this year dad thought it best that Caleb wasn't in the office, something to do with sensitive information. So we are showing the transfer initiates what to do.

"Ready for another fun day with the initiates?" I ask Caleb.

"Beatrice you make it seem like the worst thing in the world," he says.

"Don't you think it is?"

"Well. I don't know. It could be a lot worst I guess," he says.

"I guess. Do you find it hard to encourage these people?"

"You don't need to encourage them Bea, they chose to be here. You just need to show them what to do."

"Do you think Tobias is having fun?"

"I don't think Dauntless initiation is about having fun Beatrice," Caleb says.

"You know what I mean Caleb," I say.

"Well I'm sure his life is a lot more interesting than ours are," he says.

"What do you think they are teaching him?"

"How to fight. Probably how to shoot a gun," he says.

"Do you think mum would teach me how to shoot her gun?" I ask. I would really like mum to show me how to shoot.

"I don't think dad would let her do it, even if she did want too."

"Maybe."

"I don't think maybe would come into it. Just be happy that he isn't here bored out of his brain with us. And hope that he is doing well," he says.

"I miss him Caleb. I didn't think it would be this hard," I say. I remember back to our last night together and I am wishing that I had asked him to stay. Marcus isn't here anymore; it would have been easier for him to stay.

"I miss him too. Maybe we should go to the meadow this afternoon. If you want to transfer to Dauntless you are going to need to keep training."

* * *

Caleb and I are laying in the meadow watching the clouds float by. We have just finished our 'training session' and now we are just trying to forget about what is happening around us.

"Can I ask you a question?" Caleb says.

"Of course you can," I say.

"Did you and Tobias kiss?"

"Caleb," I say with shock in my voice.

"Come on Beatrice. I've seen the way you look at each other. What happened?"

"I didn't even realise he felt that way until I heard you talking to him," I say.

"How could you not?"

"Really? Have you not been listening to what they have been telling us our whole lives? I didn't even realise what I had been feeling was more until your talk with him," I say.

"So, did you kiss?"

"Caleb," I say. I know I am now blushing. This is so embarrassing.

"Beatrice," Caleb counters with.

"He kissed me on my forehead. That's all," I say turning away.

"Do you think if we were in any other faction it would have been more?"

"How would I know. Why all the questions Caleb? What's going on?"

"I don't know Beatrice. I just see kids at school and wonder if what we have been taught is right. Is it really wrong to show affection for others? You and Tobias have always touched. Do you think that it was wrong?"

"I'm not really sure. I never thought about what I was doing, it just seemed right. No one told me that I shouldn't. Do you like someone? Is it Susan?"

"Beatrice," he says with the same shock in his voice that I showed him earlier.

I can't help but smile at the shock in his voice. Maybe now he won't be so quick to ask me embarrassing questions.

"Don't like it as much now hey Caleb?"

"It's not like it can go anywhere anyway," he says.

"Why? Are you that sure you are going to transfer? Do you really want to go to Erudite after all the things that they have been reporting?"

"It's not just that. I have to go by Abnegation rules. It's not like I get to touch her or anything until we have passed initiation. Then we have to court for god knows how long. It doesn't seem natural to me."

"Don't you think it makes it all that much more special?"

"How can you say that? You of all people should know that it is unrealistic. What if when Tobias had first come to live with us, that mum and dad told you that you couldn't touch?"

"I was nine Caleb," I say.

"Are you going to follow him?"

"I want too."

"But?"

"I don't know. What if he finds some Dauntless girl while I'm stuck here? What about mum and dad? Tobias transferred and if you go as well then I am going to feel extremely selfish for leaving them too."

"Do you think mum and dad were thinking about their parents when they transferred. They were in love. You should follow your heart. Don't let your insecurities guide you. Go because it is right for you."

"I'm glad we still have two years to decide. But at the same time, so much can happen in two years. I just really hope he doesn't forget me," I say.

"That won't happen."

I hope he is right. "So Susan?"

"Yes it's Susan but I don't want to talk about it," he says. I can't help but laugh at him.


	16. Chapter 16

_I promised I would try to give a bonus chapter. So here it is. Enjoy!_

* * *

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

TOBIAS POV

It's Visiting Day today. I'm excited and apprehensive all at once. I know I asked Tris not to visit and I really hope that she doesn't come. But I am hoping mum and dad come, I think I will be devastated if I don't get to see them. As long as Marcus doesn't make an appearance, I doubt he will but I just don't know with him. He hates the Dauntless so I doubt that he will be here.

Zeke and Shauna, two Dauntless-born both invited me to spend Visiting Day with their families but I felt like I would be an intruder. Shauna and I have become great friends ever since I helped her with her fighting skills. It has been nice to make friends, although if it wasn't for Amar dragging me along for a game of dare I don't think it would have happened.

I walk into the pit and there are a multitude of colours roaming around. It feels strange to see the colours of other factions here, almost like they are intruding on a secret society that until you have lived through initiation you can't fully comprehend. I start to think that maybe I should have taken Shauna or Zeke up on their offers. I am feeling exposed standing out here by myself.

Just as I think I will go and spend some more time in the training room I see them. Mum, dad and Caleb have all come. Caleb is standing with his eyes popping out of his head, I can almost see the cogs working overtime in his brain as he tries to take everything in. I walk towards them and I can't help but smile.

"Hi," I say as I reach them.

"Oh my look at you," mum says as she hugs me. "Don't you just look the part."

"How are you?" I ask.

Just as they are about to answer Max the leader of Dauntless comes over. "Nat, is that you?" he asks.

"Max, goodness, look at you," mum says.

"I didn't know you were related to the Prior's Four," Max says.

"Four?" mum questions.

"He only has four fears Natalie. It is a Dauntless record, thus the name."

"That is extremely impressive," mum says.

"Yes he is becoming a Dauntless prodigy. If he keeps this up he will be on the path to becoming leader," Max says.

I am a little shocked at what he is saying. Leadership? I'm not sure I want to go down that path.

"Natalie, Andrew can I have a word with you?" Max asks.

He pulls them both away and I just shrug to Caleb, I have no idea what is going on.

"How are you Caleb?" I ask. I've really missed having him around.

"I'm good. This place is amazing, how do you not get lost? There is so much to do here."

"You should taste the food, now that is amazing. I swear you would never want to eat another Abnegation meal again," I say. "How's Tris?"

"She's as expected. She misses you terribly but doesn't say much. Natasha is living with us."

"What?"

"Yeah you missed all of it. It has been total chaos in Abnegation since you left. First while you were at your Choosing Ceremony, Natasha came to mum and dad and asked for help because Marcus had beat her. He found out she was pregnant and was not happy."

"Wow," is all I can say.

"Yeah you're going to be a big brother. So then Marcus came to our house and started to yell about how it is mum and dads fault that you transferred. He was so angry. Then he saw Natasha there and lost it completely. So mum got her gun out and threatened Marcus with it," Caleb says.

"Are you serious? I thought she was joking about getting a gun," I say.

"No she has it in the kitchen draws. Can you believe it?"

"No," I say. I am completely shocked. I'm going to be a big brother.

"Well it gets better. Dad called an emergency council meeting and he got Marcus thrown off the council. He had Evelyn and Natasha testify against him. He is currently sitting in a cell in Candor as we speak. The council wanted to make him factionless but dad asked them not to do that. He thought that if he is at least in Abnegation they can keep an eye on him. Dad thought that he might go after Evelyn if he is factionless and nobody would be able to stop him. I don't know when they are going to have his trial but dad has kept you out of it."

"I think dad is waiting until after your initiation to see if you want to testify. Mum didn't want you to have to do anything you weren't ready to do. They are hoping that when Marcus is given the truth serum that he will dig his own grave so to speak."

"I can't believe it," I say.

"Yeah mum and dad felt terrible once it all happened. They really regret that they didn't do something sooner, they feel like they let you down by not."

"They have done so much for me. I have so much to thank them for. I hate to think that they feel bad about it," I say.

"We are really sorry son," Dad says. He and mum have just walked back over to us after their talk with Max.

"No please. You have done so much. I'm just glad that Natasha is safe," I say. What would have happened if she had stayed? Then I remember the bruise I saw on Marcus at the Choosing Ceremony. At least she had the guts to fight back. Something I don't know that I could do now, even after all the training I have been given.

"Tobias I don't want you to worry about anything that has been happening. Just get yourself through initiation and we can discuss it all then," dad says.

"Okay."

"Oh Tris wanted me to give you this," Caleb says. He puts a black t-shirt in my hand. "For the nightmares she said."

I can't help but smile. "Tell her thank you. I think it has really helped."

"Well we better be going. We are all very proud of you Tobias," mum says.

She then grabs me and pulls me into a hug and whispers, "Whatever happens you need to become leader, there are some really bad things happening and Max is going to need your help."

I pull away and I look at her. She just nods her head. I don't know what she is talking about but it must have something to do with her conversation with Max.

"Take care Tobias. The leaders here at Dauntless are very impressed with you," dad says.

With that they leave and I am left to ponder what the hell is going on. How am I going to be able to help Max? Why leadership? Not only that, Marcus is in prison, Natasha is going to have a baby and I am really missing Tris. I think I will just head to the training room. Try to clear my head.

* * *

We are gathered by the chasm. It is the night before our final test. I am standing with Zeke waiting for Amar's memorial service to begin. I can't believe they killed him. I know Jeanine Matthews had something to do with this. I know that if it wasn't for Amar everyone could be standing here at my memorial service.

I know Eric is involved. He overheard Amar talking to me about my divergence, next thing I know Amar and I are being evaluated by Jeanine and her Erudite buddies. If it wasn't for Amar I wouldn't have known how to get through my fear simulation without showing who I really am. I don't understand how Amar could get it wrong. He knew what to do but still they realised who he was. It doesn't make sense.

I know the alcohol is starting to give me a slight buzz. It isn't something that I am used to as it wasn't something that was available in Abnegation. I am sure if it was then they wouldn't let teenagers drink it so freely as the Dauntless do.

Even standing here feeling buzzed I still feel anger over what has happened. I think Amar and I could have become friends. He helped me in so many ways to become Dauntless. By giving me my name, protecting me in my simulations, but most importantly he showed me that I need to have friends that I can't always close myself off to other people. Which is something I automatically find myself doing. I know that I was a different person when I was at home with the Prior's but outside that house I still find it hard to trust other's and let my walls down.

Zeke has gone to get more alcohol; which I doubt I am going to need any more. Zeke's tolerance is a lot higher being a Dauntless born. I am standing by myself when I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"You all right, Four?" Max asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say.

"I know Amar took a particular interest in you. I think he saw strong potential." Max smiles a little.

"He was a good mentor," I say. "He will be sorely missed."

"Yes he will," Max says. "Depending on how you do in your final examination tomorrow, you and I should talk about the future you'd like to have her in Dauntless. You're by far our most promising initiate."

I just stare at him. What is going on? Amar is dead, Max seems to be trying to recruit me. Mum and dad seem to want me to follow this path with Max. I don't really understand what is happening here.

Zeke returns with two cups, and Max seems to melt into the crowd like he had never been here. One of Amar's friends stand on a chair and starts to shout something meaningless about Amar being brave. I tune it all out. With too many thoughts and words buzzing inside my head. I look at the cup I am holding in my hand and decide for tonight it is easier to just drink then to worry about the things I can't change for now.


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

TOBIAS POV

The dining hall is packed with people dressed in their Dauntless best—all piercings exaggerated by flashier rings, all tattoos on display, even if it means going without clothing. I try to keep my eyes on people's faces as I navigate through the crush of bodies. The scents of cake and cooked meat and bread and spices are on the air, making my mouth water—I forgot to eat lunch.

We have all just finished our final examination. While my fears are still four, they are in a different order to what they were when I first got here. I think finding out that Marcus is in a holding cell in Candor has had something to do with it. My fears are now: heights, followed by losing the Priors, now Marcus is my third fear and my fourth and worst fear is now having to shoot Tris. At least I know I won't have to go back through my fear landscape again and I'm glad for it. I don't want to have to relive any of it ever again.

I reach my usual table, I steal a roll from Zeke's plate when he's not looking and stand with the others awaiting our results. I hope they won't make us wait too long. I feel like I'm holding a live wire, my hands twitching and my thoughts frantic, scattered. Zeke and Shauna try to talk to me, but none of us can shout loud enough over the noise for them to hear me, so we resign ourselves to waiting without speaking.

Max gets on one of the tables and holds up his hands for quiet. He mostly gets it, though even he can't completely silence the Dauntless, some of whom go on talking and joking like nothing ever happened. Still, I can hear him as he gives his speech.

"A few weeks ago, a group of scrawny, scared initiates gave their blood to the coals and made the big jump into Dauntless," Max says. "To be honest, I didn't think any of them would make it through the first day"—he pauses to allow for laughter, and it comes, even though it wasn't a very good joke—"but I'm pleased to announce that this year, all of our initiates attained the required scores necessary to become Dauntless!"

"Everyone cheers. Despite the assurance that they won't be cut, Zeke and Shauna exchange nervous looks—the order in which we are ranked still determines what kind of job we can choose in Dauntless. Zeke puts his arm across Shauna's shoulders and squeezes.

"No more delays," Max says. "I know our initiates are jumping out of their skin. So, here are our twelve new Dauntless members!"

the initiates' names appear on a large screen behind him, large enough even for people at the back of the room to see. I search the list automatically for their names:

6\. Zeke

7\. Ash

8\. Shauna

Instantly, some of my tension disappears. I follow the list up, and panic stabs me for just a second when I can't find my own name. But then, there it is, right at the top.

1\. Four

2\. Eric

Seeing Eric's name below mine brings a smile to my face and I think of Amar. I may not have been able to do anything to save him but at least I was able to beat the person who alerted Jeanine to him being Divergent. It is only a small victory but it still a victory.

I am taken from my thoughts when Shauna lets out a yell, and she and Zeke crush me into a sloppy hug, their weight almost knocking me to the ground. I laugh and bring my arms up to return the gesture.

* * *

I stand in the middle of my new apartment. It is small compared to the house I had live in, in Abnegation. But it is all mine. Being the first ranked initiate has its benefits and this is one of them. I get to live alone. While I miss having Tris and Caleb around, here I am happy to not have to share. In Abnegation they knew my secrets but here I want the fresh start and now I have it. I can disclose the information or I can keep it to myself. I don't feel the need to share and I would rather people not know what I have been through. Living by myself will allow me to not have to worry that someone will hear my nightmares.

I hear a knock on my door and while I am sure it will be Zeke or Shauna, I have this strange feeling that if it had been Zeke he would have just barged in. I look up to see Max standing in my doorway. Why is a faction leader standing in my doorway?

"Hello," I say.

"Sorry to interrupt," he says. "I'm surprised you didn't choose to room with your fellow former initiates. You did make friends, didn't you?"

"Yeah," I say. "I lived with the Prior's for the past five years. It felt nice to think that I could have something that was just mine. A bit of quiet, when the rest of Dauntless is so full of life."

"Natalie did mention that. I suppose I can see the appeal. Your first step away from the selflessness you would have had in your old faction. It is good to see that you are letting go of your old faction's ways," he says. Why does it feel more than that? I don't know how not sharing an apartment is letting go.

"This afternoon you'll pick your job," Max says. "Did you have anything in mind?"

"I guess it depends on what's available," I say. "I'd like to do something with teaching. Like Amar did, maybe."

"I think the first-ranked initiate can do a little better than 'initiation instructor,' don't you?" Max's eyebrows lift. "I came because an opportunity has opened up."

He pulls a chair out from under the small table near the kitchen counter, turns it, and sits on it backward. He seems to be making himself at home. It starts to unnerve me.

"To be honest, one of my fellow leaders of Dauntless is getting a little old for the job," Max says. I sit on the edge of the bed. I really should look at getting a couch. "The remaining four of us think it would be a good idea to get some new blood in leadership. New ideas for new Dauntless members and initiation, specifically. That task is usually given to the youngest leader anyway, so it's a good fit. We were thinking of drawing from the more recent initiate classes for a training program to see if anyone is a good candidate. You're a natural choice."

This is what mum and dad had been talking about. I don't know that I would make a great leader. But I shouldn't dismiss the idea either.

"The training program will last at least a year," Max says. "It will be rigorous and it will test your skills in a lot of areas. We both know you'll do just fine in the fear landscape portion."

I nod without thinking. He must not mind my self-assuredness, because he smiles a little.

"You won't need to go to the job selection meeting later today," Max says. "Training will start very soon—tomorrow morning, in fact. I am sure Natalie gave you some indication as to why this is an important opportunity for you."

No she didn't. Not really. She just told me if I get the opportunity to take it. I'm sure I'm not going to find out what is happening straight away. I know that I need to trust in the people who have always helped me.

"This sounds like an exciting opportunity for me," I say. "Thank you."

"Excellent," Max gets up and cracks on of his knuckles idly, like it's an old habit. He holds out his hand for me to shake, and I take it. I wonder if I will ever get used to this form of greeting? "Come to the conference room near my office tomorrow morning at eight. It's in the Pire. Tenth floor."

He leaves my apartment and I think where the hell is his office? He made it sound like I should just know where it is. I suppose I will find out tomorrow.

* * *

I really need to speak to mum and dad. I have no idea what I am getting myself into and Max doesn't seem to be the type to give much away. I'm a member now and can leave the compound whenever I like. I will just need to wait until it is dark, I don't think running back to my old faction on my first night as a member will be looked upon with enthusiasm from Max or the other leaders.

"Dude, you missed it!" Zeke is wide-eyed, concerned. "The only jobs left by the end were the gross jobs, like scrubbing toilets! Where _were_ you?"

"It's fine," I say as I carry my tray back to our table near the doors. Shauna is there with her little sister, Lynn and Lynn's friend Marlene. I wished I had turned around and left but Zeke had already seen me, Marlene is too cheerful for me even on a good day. Uriah jogs to catch up, I can't believe the amount of food that is on his plate. Where does he fit it? He wouldn't survive half a day in Abnegation. "I didn't miss anything; Max came to see me earlier. Made me an offer for some leadership training program."

"I guess we should have tried harder during initiation, huh?" says Shauna.

"Or killed him before he could take his final test."

"Or both." Shauna grins at me. "Congrats, Four. You deserve it."

"That must have been why Eric wasn't there either. He was prancing around here like he was number one a few minutes ago," Zeke says. "I mean you kicked his ass in initiation I don't know why he thinks he is all that."

I don't feel like thinking about Eric at the moment. So I quickly change the subject. "so what did you guys pick?"

"Control room," Zeke says. "My mom used to work there, and she taught me most of what I'll need to know already."

"I'm in the patrol leadership track . . . thing," Shauna says. "Not the most exciting job ever, but at least I'll get to be outside."

"Yeah, let's hear you say that in the dead of winter when you're trudging through a foot of snow and ice," Lynn says sourly. "I better do well in initiation. I don't want to get stuck at the fence."

"Didn't we talk about this?" Uriah says. "Don't say the 'I' word until at most two weeks before it happens. It makes me want to throw up."

I look at the pile of food on his tray. "Stuffing yourself up to your eyeballs with food, though, that's fine?"

He rolls his eyes at me and bends over his tray to keep on eating.

Zeke spots someone across the cafeteria, "I'll be right back."

Shauna watches him cross the room to greet a group of girls. I don't know why she won't just tell him she likes him. She is happy to be beaten up by guys during initiation but just sits back and watches as Zeke flirts with other girls.

When Zeke gets back to the table he slides into the seat next to me and says, "Four. What are you doing tomorrow night?"

"I don't know," I say. "Nothing?"

"Not anymore," he says. "You're coming with me on a date."

I choke on my next bite of potatoes. "What?"

"Um, hate to tell you this, big brother," Uriah says, "but you're supposed to go on dates alone, not bring a friend."

"It's a double date, obviously," Zeke says. "I asked Maria out, and she said something about finding a date for her friend Nicole, and I indicated that you would be interested."

"NO!" I almost yell. "there is no way I am going on a date with you Zeke."

"Come on Four," Zeke whines. "You need to live a little. You may even enjoy it."

"No."

"What got someone waiting for you all dressed in grey?" Uriah says. I didn't realise Uriah knew which faction I had come from.

I just glare at him and he laughs.

"Seriously?" Zeke says. "There is someone you're waiting for?"

"I'm not having this conversation with you," I say. I push my plate away from me, I wasn't really hungry anyway. "Take Uriah with you." And with that I walk away.

* * *

My dramatic exit from the dining hall is a good excuse to go and hop on a train. Hopefully people will just think I've gone to let off steam. I don't want to date a Dauntless girl, even if it is just so Zeke can find his latest conquest. My heart belongs to one person and one person only.

I am on my second circle of the city when I think it is late enough to jump off and go to the Abnegation sector. Lucky for me that I can enter from the meadow and no one should see me. I knock on the back door of my former home, I don't think it would be right to just walk in now that I am no longer in Abnegation.

"Tobias," mum says as she opens the door, "What are you doing here? This could be dangerous for you."

"I know but I needed to talk to you and dad," I say.

"Well come in," she says. Once she has shut the door she engulfs me into a hug. "It is so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too," I say.

"Let me put the kettle on. Tris is in her room, why don't you go and say hello."

I don't have to be told twice. I bound up the stairs and I don't even knock I just barge straight into her room. She is sound asleep on her bed and I hate the thought of waking her. But after my argument with Zeke I really feel I need to be close to her.

I sit down on the floor next to her bed and I brush a piece of her hair of her face. "Tris," I whisper.

She mumbles something in her sleep and I see a smile forming.

"Tris," I say a little louder. "Tris wake up."

"Tobias?" she says.

"Yeah it's me," I say.

"What are you doing here?" she asks as she rubs sleep out of her eyes.

"I needed to talk to mum and dad about something," I say.

All of a sudden she jumps up and she hugs me really tight. "I can't believe you are here," she says.

"I know. But I can't stay long. I wasn't going to wake you but I really need this," I say. I don't want to let her go but I know I need to be here for as short a time as possible.

"Tris, I need to talk to mum and dad but I promise I will come and say goodbye before I leave," I say as I let go of her.

"No, please stay," she says.

"I wish I could. But it is dangerous that I even came here," I say. "I need to go downstairs."

Tris nods and I know she understands why I shouldn't be here. The whole Faction before blood motto runs deep in Dauntless.

I walk back downstairs and sit at the kitchen table with mum.

"What is the problem Tobias?" mum asks.

"Where's dad?"

"Still at work. With all that has happened he has had to put a lot more hours in," she says. I nod. I don't need an explanation, Caleb told me enough.

"Why is it so important for me to go into leadership?" I ask.

"Max didn't say much to us. It was all very cryptic. He is worried that Erudite are trying to take over Dauntless leadership. He thinks Jeanine has been planting spies within Dauntless but he can't prove it. He needs the new leader to not have an affiliation with Erudite," mum says.

"Well I start leadership training tomorrow but there are quite a few candidates so I'm not guaranteed the position," I say.

"Just do your best and once you get further into training maybe Max will open up. Max has always been a man of few words, so just keep your head down and work hard," mum says. "I am sure Erudite are up to something but I'm not sure what. Andrew has become interim leader of Abnegation and we are hoping because he was from Erudite that maybe the relationship between our two factions can become a little less hostile."

"You better get going," Mum says. "I would hate for you to get in any trouble for coming here."

"I promised Tris I would say goodbye," I say. "I'll just do that and then I will go."

I walk back upstairs and walk back into Tris's room. She has fallen back asleep. I don't want to wake her back up. So I walk over and I lightly brush my lips on her forehead and I leave as quickly as I can. I am so glad I got to see her.

I walk down the stairs and meet mum at the backdoor. "I didn't think you would get away that quickly," she says with a warm smile on her face.

"She had fallen back asleep; I didn't want to wake her back up. It is probably the easiest option to leave this way," I say. "Can you tell her goodbye for me?"

"I will," she says. "Although she probably won't be happy with you for not waking her."

"I know but . . ." I say.

"I understand," she says. "Remember we love you." She hugs me quickly and I walk out the back door and into the night.


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

TRIS POV

I wake from the best dream ever. I dreamt that Tobias had come back home. I rise from my bed and I actually feel the happiest I have since he has been gone.

I walk downstairs and I sit at the kitchen table. Mum is in here making breakfast.

"Do you want some help?" I ask.

"Sure, that would be nice," mum says. "You seem happier today."

"I had the strangest dream last night," I say. "I dreamt that Tobias had come to visit."

"It wasn't a dream," she says.

"What? Really?" I say.

"Yes, he came to ask for some advice," Mum says.

"Oh," I say. Disappointed that it wasn't to see me.

"He went up to your room to say goodbye but you had fallen back asleep. He didn't want to wake you."

"I wish he had."

"Beatrice I think you would have made it almost impossible for him to leave if you had been awake," mum says.

"I know, I just miss him so much," I say.

"I know you do sweetie but every day you get closer to being with him again."

"You won't be mad if I leave?"

"I want only happiness for you, Caleb and Tobias. Where you need to be for that to happen is your decision. Your father and I came here for that exact reason and while it isn't always easy we know that we made the right decision."

"Even after everything that has happened with Marcus?"

"More so because of it. If we hadn't come here, then we can't be sure that Tobias would have been safe. He may still be stuck in Abnegation dealing with Marcus. Also Natasha is now safe and so is her unborn baby. I know we have seemed upset with Abnegation at times but that will happen wherever you are. You can't always agree with everyone; you just have to make the best of your situation."

"You don't think he will find a sexy Dauntless girl?"

Mum starts to laugh at me. "Why would you ever think such a thing?"

"I see the way they dress. He's a boy, isn't that what they look for?"

"Beatrice, Tobias loves you. It has nothing to do with how you dress. It's what is in here," she says as she holds her hand to my heart.

"Do you really think that is enough?"

"I think that it is all that matters," she says.

"Thank you mum," I say and I give her a hug. I wish I had been able to spend more time with Tobias but I also know that mum is right. I would have made it as hard as possible for him to leave. Why is it that when you want to grow up it seems to take so long?

TOBIAS POV – YEAR ONE IN DAUNTLESS

I wake early and wish I could roll over and go back to sleep. But I can't I start leadership training today. I am nervous but not as nervous as I would have been if Marcus was still in charge of Abnegation. It makes my decision to try for the position of leader a lot easier. Knowing if I do become leader I will not have to face him. It might make me a coward in the eyes of my new faction but hopefully one day soon I will start to feel braver. One day, hopefully, I will be able to face this fear head on.

I reach the tenth floor and have no idea where to go. I spot a dark head turning a corner in front of me. Eric. I follow him, partly because he probably knows where he's going, but partly because I want to know what he's doing even if he's not going to the same place I am. But when I turn the corner, I see Max standing in a conference room that has glass walls, surrounded by young Dauntless. The oldest one is maybe twenty, and the youngest is probably not much older than I am. Max sees me through the glass and motions for me to come in. Eric sits close to him— _Suck-up_ , I think—but I sit at the other end of the table, between a girl with a ring though her nostrils and a boy whose hair is such a bright shade of green I can't look straight at him. I feel plain by comparison—I may have gotten Dauntless flames tattooed on my side during initiation, but it's not like they're on display.

"I think everyone is here, so let's get started." Max closes the door to the conference room and stands before us. He looks strange in such an ordinary environment, like he's here to break all the glass and cause chaos rather than lead this meeting.

"You're all here because you've shown potential, first, but also because you've displayed enthusiasm for our faction and its future." I don't know how I've done that. "Our city is changing, faster now than ever before, and in order to keep up with it, we'll have to change, too. We'll have to become stronger, braver, better than we are now. And among you are the people who can get us there, but we'll have to figure out who they are. We'll be doing a combination of instruction and skills test for the next several months, to teach you what you'll need to know if you make it through this program, but also to see how quickly you learn." That sounds a little like something the Erudite would value, not the Dauntless—strange.

Mum said that Erudite were trying to interfere with Dauntless leadership, so why would Max be thinking like an Erudite when he doesn't want them interfering?

"The first thing you'll do is fill out this info sheet," he says, and I almost laugh. There's something ridiculous about a tough, hardened Dauntless warrior with a stack of papers he calls "info sheets," but of course some things have to be ordinary, because it's more efficient that way. He sends the stack around the table, along with a bundle of pens. "All this will do is tell us more about you and give us a starting point by which to measure your progress. So it's in your best interest to be honest, and not to make yourself sound better than you are."

I feel unsettled, staring at the sheep of paper. I fill out my name—which is the first question—and my age—the second. The third asks for my faction of origin, and the fourth asks for my number of fears. The fifth asks what those fear are.

Three are easy to describe—heights, losing my family and losing a loved one—but the next one? What am I supposed to write about my father, that I'm afraid of Marcus Eaton? I decide that the best way to describe it is _physical threat_ , although I know that this doesn't make me sound very Dauntless.

The next few questions are strange, confusing. They're statements, trickily worded, that I'm supposed to agree or disagree with. _It's okay to steal if it's to help someone else_. Well, that's easy enough—agree. _Some people are deserving of rewards than others. Maybe. It depends on the rewards. Power should be given only to those who earn it. Difficult circumstances form stronger people. You don't know how strong a person really is until they're tested_. I glance around the table at the others. Some people seem puzzled, but no one looks the way I feel—disturbed, almost afraid to circle an answer beneath each statement.

I don't know what to do, so I circle "agree" for each one and pass my sheet back with everyone else's.

* * *

It has been a full on day and my head is swimming with information and questions. I see Shauna storm away from Lynn and their brother Hector in the dining hall and decided to follow her and see if she wants to come to the training room with me. I could do with some physical exertion after being stuck in an office all day.

"So Ezekiel couldn't convince you to go on the double date tonight?" she asks.

I laugh a little and shake my head no. " _Ezekiel_ ," I say, cringing. "I forgot that was his whole name. Yeah there was no way I was going to do that."

"So are you going to tell me who she is?"

"Who?"

"The girl who is stopping you from going on double dates with Zeke?"

I shake my head no.

"One day, maybe?" she asks.

"Maybe," I say.

"I was thinking of going to the training room, get some exercise in. Want to go?"

"Yeah," I say. "That is exactly where I was headed."

"How was your first day of leadership training?"

"Intense," I say. How do I describe sitting in a room, of what I would call misfits, trying to answer questions that made no sense to me.

We head toward the training room and I can see something ahead that I don't think Shauna is going to want to see. I try to stop Shauna with a hand, but I'm too late—she sees their two bodies pressed together, her eyes wide. Zeke and Maria are currently ahead of us. Shauna pauses for a moment, and I hear smacking noises I wish I hadn't heard. Then she moves down the hallway, walking so fast I have to jog to catch up to her.

"Shauna—"

"Training room," she says.

When we get there, she starts immediately on the punching bag, and I've never seen her hit so hard before. I wish I could help her to feel better but I wouldn't know how.

* * *

"Though it might seem strange, it's important for high-level Dauntless to understand how a few programs work," Max says. "The surveillance program in the control room is an obvious one—a Dauntless leader will sometimes have to monitor the things happening in the faction. Then there's the simulation programs, which you have to understand in order to evaluate Dauntless initiates. Also the currency tracking program, which keeps commerce in our faction running smoothly, among others. Some of these programs are pretty sophisticated, which means you'll have to be able to learn computer skills easily, if you don't already have them. That's what we'll be doing today."

He gestures to the woman standing at his left shoulder. I recognize her from the game of Dare. She's young, with purple streaks in her short hair and more piercings than I can easily count.

"Lauren here will be teaching you some of the basics, and then we'll test you," Max says. "Lauren is one of our initiation instructors, but in her downtime she works as a computer technician in Dauntless headquarters. It's a little Erudite of her, but we'll let it slide for the sake of convenience."

Max winks at her, and she grins.

"Go ahead," he says. "I'll be back in an hour."

Max leaves, and Lauren claps her hands together.

"Right," she says. "Today we're going to talk about how programming works. Those of you who already have some experience with this, please feel free to tune out. The rest of you better keep focused because I'm not going to repeat myself. Learning this stuff is like learning a language—it's not enough to memorize the words; you also have to understand the rules and why they work the way they do."

The next hour passes in a blur of technical terms I can barely keep up with. I try to jot some notes on a piece of scrap paper I found on the floor, but she's moving so fast it's hard for my hand to keep up with my ears, so I abandon the effort after a few minutes and just try to pay attention. She shows examples of what she's talking about on a screen at the front of the room, and it's hard not to be distracted by the view from the windows behind her—from this angle, the Pire displays the city's skyline, the prongs of the Hub piercing the sky, the marsh peeking from between the glimmering buildings.

I'm not the only one who seems overwhelmed—the other candidates lean over to one another to whisper frantically, asking for definitions they missed. Eric, however, sits comfortably in his chair, drawing on the back of his hand. Smirking. I recognise that smirk. Of course he already knows all this stuff. He must have learned it in Erudite, probably when he was a child, or else he wouldn't look quite so smug.

Before I can really register the passage of time, Lauren is pressing a button for the display screen to withdraw into the ceiling.

"On the desktop of your computer, you'll find a file marked 'Programming Test,'" she says. "Open it. It will take you to a timed exam. You'll go through a series of small programs and mark the errors you find that are causing them to malfunction. They might be really big things, like the order of the code, or really small things, like a misplace word or marking. You don't have to fix them right now, but you do have to be able to spot them. There will be one error per program. Go."

Everyone starts frantically tapping at their screens. Eric leans over to me and says, "Did your Stiff house even have a computer, Four?"

"No," I say.

"Well, you see, this is how you open a file," he says with an exaggerated tap on the file on his screen. "See, it looks like paper, but it's really just a picture on a screen—you know what a screen is, right?"

"Shut up," I say as I open the test.

I stare at the first program. _It's like learning a language_ , I say to myself. _Everything has to start in the right order. Just make sure that everything is in the right place_.

I don't start at the beginning of the code and make my way down—instead, I look for the innermost kernel of code inside all the wrappers. There, I notice that the line of code finished in the wrong place. I mark the spot and press the arrow button that will allow me to continue the exam if I'm right. The screen changes, presenting me with a new program.

I raise my eyebrows. I must have absorbed more than I thought.

I start the next one in the same way, moving from the centre of the code to the outside, checking the top of the program with the bottom, paying attention to quotation marks and periods and backslashes. Looking for the code errors is strangely soothing, just a way of making sure that the world is still in the same order it's supposed to be, and as long as it is, everything will run smoothly.

I forget about all the people around me, even about the skyline beyond us, about finishing this exam will mean. I just focus on what's in front of me, on the tangle of words on my screen. I notice that Eric finishes first, long before anyone else looks ready to complete their exam, but I try not to let it worry me. Even when he decides to stay next to me and look over my shoulder as I work.

Finally I touch the arrow buttons and a new image pops up. _EXAM COMPLETE,_ it says.

"Good job," Lauren says, when she comes by to check my screen. "You're the third one to finish."

I turn toward Eric.

"Wait," I say, "Weren't you about to explain what a screen was? Obviously I have _no_ computer skills at all, so I really need your help."

He glowers at me, and I grin.

* * *

I finish training for the day and just like yesterday I am glad I am done for the day. I didn't realise just how intense training to be a Dauntless leader would be. I think I will go and see how Zeke's going in his job in the control room. It will be interesting to see just what his job entails and I can see what time he will be finishing work. Maybe I can see if he wants to go to the training room after dinner.

I ride the elevator to the fourth floor, then follow signs for the control room. It's down a short corridor and around the bend, the door wide open. A wall of screens greets me—a few people sit behind it, at desks, and then there are other desks along the wall where more people sit, each one with a screen of their own. The footage rotates every five seconds, showing different parts of the city—the Amity fields, the streets around the Hub, the Dauntless compound, even the Merciless Mart, with its grand lobby. I glimpse the Abnegation sector on one of the screens, wondering if I would be lucky enough to see Tris while I am in here.

I see Zeke sitting at a desk on the right wall, typing something into a dialog box on the left half of his screen while footage of the Pit plays on the right half. Everyone in the room is wearing headphones—listening, I assume, to whatever they're supposed to be watching.

"Zeke," I say quietly. Some of the others look at me, as if scolding me for intruding, but no one says anything.

"Hey!" he says. "I'm glad you came; I'm bored out of my mind."

I can't help but to laugh a little. It's only his second day and he is already bored. How is he going to do this job for the rest of his life?

"I came to see what time you get off. Do you want to go to the training room?" I ask.

I am watching the screens waiting for him to respond when something catches my eye. I see a flash of Max in what appears to be his office, sitting in one of the chairs, a woman sitting across from him. A woman with blond hair tied back in a tight knot. I put my hand on Zeke's shoulder.

"Wait," I say. "Go back."

He does, and I confirm what I suspected: Jeanine Matthews is in Max's office, a folder in her lap. Her clothes are perfectly pressed, her posture straight. I take the headphones from Zeke's head, and he scowls at me but he doesn't stop me.

Max's and Jeanine's voices are quiet, but I can still hear them.

I've narrowed it down to six," Max is saying. "I'd say that's pretty good for, what? The second day?"

"This is inefficient," Jeanine says. "We already have the candidate. I ensured it. This was always the plan."

"You never asked me what I thought of the plan, and this is my faction," Max says tersely. "I don't like him, and I don't want to spend all my days working with someone I don't like. So you'll have to let me at least try to find someone else who meets all the criteria—"

"Fine." Jeanine stands, pressing her folder to her stomach. "But when you fail to do so, I expect you to admit it. I have no patience for Dauntless pride."

"Yeah, because the Erudite are the picture of humility," Max says sourly.

"Hey," Zeke hisses. "My supervisor is looking. Give me back the headphones."

He snatches them from my head, and they snap around my ears in the process, making them sting.

"You have to get out of her or I'll lose my job," Zeke says. "I finish at six, I'll meet you in the dining hall for dinner."

I nod and quickly slip out of the control room, my mind racing.

I am trying to process what I just heard. _We already have the candidate, I ensured it._ They must have been talking about the candidate for Dauntless leadership.

This must be what mum and dad were talking about. Jeanine is trying to interfere with Dauntless. Obviously Eric is her choice. He would be the perfect lap dog for Jeanine. At least Max doesn't like him. I don't know how I am supposed to get through this training when Jeanine is going to be interfering, making sure that Eric gets the position. I am going to have to work harder to make sure that it doesn't happen.


	19. Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

TOBIAS POV

I walk into the tattoo parlour and see that Tori is free. I have a few minutes before I have to meet Zeke for dinner and I want to talk to her about doing some work on my bag. I only have light scarring on my back from where Marcus used his belt all those years ago. I hate to think what my back would look like if I hadn't been able to leave that house.

"Hi Tori," I say as I walk over to her station.

"Four, how are you?"

"Good," I say. But there isn't much conviction in my voice. It has been a long day and I still have a lot to think about.

"You don't sound it," she says. "Leadership training that good hey?"

I shrug my shoulders. I don't need the wrong person hearing me and you never know who is hiding within the tattoo parlour.

"What can I do for you?"

"I need a tattoo."

"Obviously, otherwise you wouldn't be here," she says.

I ignore her sarcasm. "You had a drawing in your apartment when we walked through a few weeks ago. It was of all the faction symbols together. Still have it?"

"You weren't supposed to see that," she says.

I know I wasn't supposed to see it, why that drawing isn't something she wants made public. It suggests leanings toward other factions instead of asserting Dauntless supremacy, like her tattoos are supposed to. But isn't that what the leaders are doing? Falling in line with whatever Jeanine and Erudite want.

"That's sort of the point," I say. "I want that tattoo."

If I am able to get through this training I want to be able to bring qualities of all five factions into my way of thinking.

Tori looks around, her eyes jumping up to the camera in the corner, one I noticed when I walked in. She is the type who notices cameras, too.

"It was just a stupid drawing," she says loudly. "Come on, you're clearly upset—we can talk about it, find something better for you to get."

She beckons me to the back of the parlour, through the storage room behind it, and into her apartment. We walk through the dilapidated kitchen to the living room, where her drawings are still stacked on the coffee table.

She sorts through the pages until she finds a drawing like the one I was talking about, the Dauntless flames being cupped by Abnegation hands, the Amity tree roots growing beneath an Erudite eye, which is balance under the Candor scales. All the faction symbols stacked on top of each other. She holds it up, and I nod.

"I can't do this in a place that people will see all the time," she says. "That'll make you a walking target. A suspected faction traitor."

"I want it on my back," I say.

"Four, what if you take your shirt off? How much off your back are we talking?"

I lift my shirt off and show her exactly why I want my back covered. It isn't that noticeable unless you are paying close attention to it. But of course Tori has a keen eye for details.

"Four let me design something for you. I will find a way to incorporate all the factions for you. A design that will hide your scars and still be able to be visible from a distance."

"Okay, thanks Tori."

"Whatever I come up with is going to take a long time. Several sessions. We'll have to do them in here, after hours because I'm not going to let the cameras catch it, even if it will be discreet."

"Fine," I say.

"Come by tomorrow morning before work. I should have something you approve of by then. We can get started then."

* * *

I am walking toward another day of leadership training. How long before Max decides to just give the position to Eric? The thought makes me sick. I just hope I can stick this out long enough for the leaders to decide that I am the better choice than Eric.

I went to see Tori this morning and she has come up with an amazing design for my back. I will have the Dauntless flames from the Dauntless symbol covering my back with extra flames to reach around my torso and to extend up to my hair line on my neck. Within the flames the five faction's symbols will be incorporated. The faction's symbols are only really noticeable if you study my back, except for the Abnegation and Dauntless symbols, which will be larger than the others, because they are the faction I chose and the faction I was born in.

I walk into the conference room and find that I am the last to arrive. I quickly take a seat and hope that I'm not late. I don't want to look at my watch as that will bring attention to Max of my tardiness this morning. I was busy talking to Tori about the tattoo, but I don't think that will be a good excuse for why I am last to arrive.

"Today I would like to hear your thoughts about how to improve Dauntless—the vision you have for our faction in the coming years," he says. "I'll be meeting with you in groups by age, the oldest first. The rest of you, think of something good to say."

He leaves with the three oldest candidates. Eric is right across from me, and I notice that he has even more metal in his face than the last time I say him—now there are rings through his eyebrows, soon he's going to look more like a pincushion than a human being. Maybe that's the point—strategy. No one looking at him now could ever mistake him for being Erudite.

I watch as the candidates file out as they're called. I wonder why everyone is still being interviewed if they have the number down to six. Are they hoping that we will just drop out? Naturally making it easier to give Jeanine what she wants. I'm sure Eric will want to be the last man standing. Eventually we are the only two left. Max makes his way down the hallway, then beckons for us from the door, without a word. We follow him back to his office, which I recognize from yesterday's footage of his meeting with Jeanine Matthews. I use my memory of that conversation to steel myself against what's coming next.

"Eric, let's begin with you," Max says. "Do you have ideas for what might be good for Dauntless, moving forward?"

"I do." Eric sits up. "I think we need to make some changes, and I think they should start during initiation."

"What kind of changes do you have in mind?"

"Dauntless has always embraced a spirit of competition," Eric says. "Competition makes us better: it brings out the best, strongest parts of us. I think initiation should foster that sense of competition more than it currently does, so that it produces the best initiates possible. Right now initiates are competing only against the system, striving for a particular score in order to move forward. I think they should be competing against each other for spots in Dauntless."

I can't help it; I turn and stare at him. A limited number of spots? In a faction? After just two weeks of initiation training?

"And if they don't get a spot?"

"They become factionless," Eric says. I swallow a derisive laugh. Eric continues, "If we believe that Dauntless truly is the superior faction to join, that its aims are more important than the aims of other factions, then becoming one of us should be an honour and a privilege, not a right."

"Are you kidding?" I say, unable to contain myself any longer. "People choose a faction because they're already proficient in what a faction teaches. You'd be kicking people out of Dauntless just for not being strong enough to jump on a train or win a fight. You would favour the big, strong, and reckless more than the small, smart, and brave—you wouldn't be improving Dauntless at all."

"I'm sure the small, smart ones would be better off in Erudite, or as little grey-clad Stiffs," Eric says with a wry smile. "And I don't think you're giving our potential new Dauntless members enough credit, Four. This system would favour only the most determined."

I glance at Max, I expect him to look unimpressed by Eric's plan, but he doesn't. He's leaning forward, focused on Eric's pierced face like something about it has inspired him.

"This is an interesting debate," Max says. "Four, how would you improve Dauntless, if not by making initiation more competitive?"

"We need to look a bit further down the track than just at initiation training. We have more deaths than any other faction, especially with the number of accidents that occur each year from members being reckless. If we limit the number of members we are not going to have enough people to fill the jobs they are no longer here to do. Initiation is only two weeks. It needs to be extended, we need to give the initiates time to adjust. We only give the top five the choice of job they will be doing." I say.

"Once the members pick their jobs, with how it stands now, they don't get any further training. We need them to be training all the time. How often do you think the cleaning crew practise their shooting skills? Not everyone is motivated to keep up their proficiencies in what they learnt when they went through initiation. How many people get the opportunity to advance into a better job after they have chosen what they want to do? If we were attacked tomorrow, how many people who work in the compound would actually be able to defend it."

"I think Eric is thinking on to small of a scale. Initiation is such a small part of life here in Dauntless. We need to focus on every member. We need to encourage our members to work together as one, not try to tear each other apart to get ahead. _We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another._ Isn't that what is in our manifesto? If we take what Eric wants on board than we may as well be tearing up the manifesto. Because it won't mean a damn thing."

I have so much else I would like to say but I know I have to be careful. I can't let Max know that I know about his meetings with Jeanine. As much as I would like to tell him that he has already started tearing up the manifesto with his behaviour, I know I need to give him the benefit of the doubt. He did ask mum and dad to encourage me to become leader and he did tell Jeanine he hates Eric. Or I am assuming he was talking about Eric. I can only hope that he isn't going to work with Jeanine, that if we can drive Eric out of leadership training that it will drive Jeanine back to Erudite and away from the manipulation our faction.

"Well I think you have both brought some very interesting ideas to the table," Max says. "I think these are ideas that warrant further discussion. I believe the other leaders will be interested not only what you have both said today but also what some of our other candidates have said. You will both be given the next few days off. I will be announcing on Friday who is to continue on with leadership training and for the ones who don't make the cut. Well we will need to find you other jobs around the compound. So start thinking of what job you may like to do. It doesn't mean either of you haven't made it to the next round but it will make my job simpler if you have an idea of what you would like."

"Now if you do make it to the next round you will find yourselves extremely busy. The candidates that are successful will be shadowing each leader for a number of weeks. It will give us a chance to see if your personalities fit within leadership. You will also need to go through a more exhaustive training regime than the one you just had in initiation. Our leaders need to be the best. The best fighters, the best shooters, the best at everything. No exception. I don't think either of you will have any trouble with being the best, you have both shown throughout initiation how competitive you are and at this stage that has you both at an advantage."

"Hopefully you will both see me on Friday. If not, I will have a list of available jobs given to you and I will need an answer by Monday. Use this time wisely," Max says.

Of course they will be watching us. To see how we use this down time. It will be good to be able to go to the training room, take my mind off everything that has been happening. Plus, if I am going to beat Eric to the leadership position, I know I am going to have to continue to become stronger physically. Just because I beat him in our one and only fight doesn't mean that will happen again. I know how much Eric hates to lose and I am sure he is just waiting for a chance to reverse the decision.

* * *

"So Friday is the day!" Shauna says.

"Yeah."

She and I are sitting next to the chasm with our feet over the edge. I rest my head against the bars of the metal barrier that's keeping us from falling to our deaths, and feel the spray of water against my ankles as one of the larger waves hits a wall. I told her about what has been happening in leadership training.

"So are you nervous?"

"Not really. I'm either in or I'm out. There is still so much to learn either way," I say.

"True," she says.

"Where's Zeke?"

"I don't know," she says. "I haven't wanted to hang out with him much recently.

I look sideways at her. "You could just tell him that you like him, you now. I honestly don't think he has a clue."

"That's obvious," she says, snorting. "But what if this is what he wants—to just bounce around from girl to girl for a while? I don't want to be one of those girls he bounces to."

"I seriously doubt you would be," I say, "but fair enough."

We sit quietly for a few seconds, both of us staring down at the raging water below.

"There you are," Zeke says from behind us. He's carrying a large bottle full of some kind of brown liquid, holding it by the neck, "Come on. I found something."

Shauna and I look at each other and shrug, then follow him to the doors on the other side of the Pit, the ones we first went through after jumping into the net. But instead of leading us toward the net, he takes us through another door—the lock is taped down with duct tape—and down a pitch-black corridor and a flight of stairs.

"Should be coming up—ouch!"

"Sorry, I didn't know you were stopping," Shauna says.

"Hold on, almost got it—"

He opens a door, letting faint light in so we can see where we are. We're on the other side of the chasm, several feet above the water. Above us, the Pit seems to go on forever, and the people milling around near the railing are small and dark, impossible to distinguish from this distance.

"How did you find this place?" Shauna asks with obvious wonder as she jumps down onto one of the lower rocks. Now that I'm here, I see a path that would carry us up and across the wall, if we wanted to walk to the other side of the chasm.

"That girl Maria," Zeke says. "Her mum works in chasm maintenance. I didn't know there was such a thing, but apparently there is."

"You still seeing her?" Shauna asks, trying to be casual.

"Nah," Zeke says. "Every time I was with her I just kept getting the itch to be with friends instead. That's not a good sign, right?"

"No," Shauna agrees, and she seems more cheerful than before.

I lower myself more carefully onto the rock Shauna is standing on. Zeke sits next to her, opening his bottle and passing it around. We sit here and share Zeke's bottle and talk about how our jobs are going. From what they are telling me it sounds like I have the most interesting of jobs, for the moment. Part of me can't wait for Friday but another part of me is dreading what will be decided. I am still undecided to whether I am leader material but I do think I am a better candidate than Eric will ever be.


	20. Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

TRIS POV

Initiation is over for the Abnegation initiates. It was all bittersweet, helping mum and Caleb with the initiates because of the situation with the council. If Tobias had stayed I would have been spending my days with him but instead he is off fulfilling his dreams in Dauntless. Damn Marcus.

Finally, it seems he is getting what he deserves. His trial at Candor was over quickly. He admitted to the abuse on Evelyn and Natasha. He even admitted that he had abused Tobias. No one had to testify because he admitted to everything and more. While I didn't read the full extent of what he had done, the abuse was only part of what he had been doing. There was bribery, corruption and a whole lot of other things he had been up too.

Once the officials at Candor had worked out what he had done and they had caught up with the other officials that had been helping him it turned into a dog fight with the other factions. I had never seen dad so stressed. Marcus is now sitting in a cell for the next fifteen years, after that he will have his memory wiped and be factionless. Another ten Abnegation officials have been made factionless. Erudite have been screaming for more say in the government.

Dad has agreed to only have twenty-one Abnegation members on the council and to allow each faction to have two representatives. Erudite aren't happy but they have agreed it is a step in the right direction. They are giving this a two-year trial and if the other factions don't believe that this is working then Abnegation has agreed to look at an alternative solution. Dad doesn't think Jeanine Matthews will be happy until she is running the council. At least Jeanine and dad knew each other when they were both in Erudite, this seems to have been the only thing that has kept communication civil through the negotiations.

Caleb has started volunteering where Susan has been volunteering. This is the first step towards courting in Abnegation. It is really hard not to tease him about it but I am happy for him. Maybe he will stay in Abnegation. Natasha has moved into her own house. Dad organised it so that she could live next door. Even though the house should be for a large family and Natasha will have to move if it is needed by one, for now it works out well because she is close if she needs anything.

TOBIAS POV

I am sitting in Max's office waiting to see who else has progressed to the second stage of leadership training. I was a little shocked when Max came to see me and tell me that I had made it to the next stage. I thought I had blown it when I had argued with Eric over his idea of how initiation training should be. I am broken from my thoughts when Max starts speaking.

"Good, you're here Eric. Come take a seat. Now after careful consideration the other leaders and I have decided that only the two of you will be continuing on with leadership training. There is only one space available so from here on out you need to show us exactly what you are made of," Max says.

"Over the next five months you will each be alternating between a different leader. By the end of the five months you will have spent one month with each. We all have different personalities and styles of how we like to lead. We also have different areas of Dauntless that we are in charge of. Be respectful of how you speak to your superiors when you are in the presence of Dauntless members and their dependants."

"If you have questions remember where you are before you ask. Once you are in private we have no problem with you either asking questions or questioning why things may be done a certain way. But we will not tolerate insubordination in front of others. You will be given an office to share, although I doubt you will see much of each other in the next few months."

"At any time within the next five months it may be decided who will be chosen as the next leader of this faction or it may not. You need to stay on your toes and work hard if you want this. Once you have finished your rotations with each leader you will then have further training. This training will be discussed if you make it that far. I will expect weekly reports from both of you on what you have learned, what you think could be improved, what you think were your strengths and weaknesses for the week and any other information you think may be relevant."

"Leadership is not an easy path and one or both of you may feel that you do not fit with the position. That being the case than I will expect you to come to me so we can discuss your job prospects. Whoever doesn't take this position will have the opportunity to choose from a wide variety of positions within Dauntless. Give your training everything you have. Four you will be shadowing me for the next month. Eric you will be with Vera. Four look over these documents while I introduce Eric to Vera."

I look over the documents that Max has given to me and it gives me a brief rundown of what each leader is in charge of. There is also a note at the bottom that makes me aware that although they have their assigned areas this could change or have other duties assigned at any given moment. Leaders are on call twenty-four hours a day seven days a week but this does not mean that they have assigned hours that they are expected to work.

There is to be at least one leader within the compound at any given time and that there is a coordinator who is tasked with making sure that this happens. All leaders need to be able to be contacted in case of an emergency and are required to work at least one weekend a month. They are also expected to keep up to date with all areas of physical training and need to go through their fear simulation at least once every two years in front of the other leaders.

* * *

Max does a daily walk around Dauntless to make sure everything is running smoothly. There isn't a member that he doesn't know and he acknowledges each and every one by name. Not only that he is able to hold conversation with each member about members of their families. I don't know how he does it but he also knows their children's names and ages. You can see the respect that the members have for him and they appreciate the time he takes to stop and talk.

"How do you remember everyone?" I ask him.

"Well I was lucky to have been Dauntless born. Although I mostly got to know the older members from getting my arse kicked when I was younger from getting into trouble. I put the Pedrad brothers to shame with what I used to get up to. Over the years I have made it a priority to make sure I know who my members are," he says.

"The more respect you show them the more they will show you. I need to know what the people are up to Four. If I don't that is when we have trouble. You're smart Four, you will pick up their names soon enough. You do realise they all know you."

"Really?" I say. The surprise is evident in my voice.

"Four you were first in your class and only had four fears. Those are both extremely important to our members. They take great pride in your accomplishments. They have a respect for you that will serve you well in leadership in years to come. Earning the respect of others in a faction such as ours can be quite difficult. Your hard work during initiation has given you the respect others can only dream of. This is one of the reasons I wanted you for leader. You may not see it but you are a natural choice for this position. You work hard to achieve what you want and people see that, they respect it. You are strong willed and won't be easily manipulated by others."

I wonder what he means by not being easily manipulated by others. My first thought is that he is talking about Jeanine Matthews. My second thought is, who in leadership does he not trust. I suppose time will tell.

* * *

My first month of training with Max went all too quickly. I learnt that Max stays mainly within the compound overseeing the day to day running of the faction and is available to make decisions when the other leaders aren't here or need a sounding board.

My next leader to shadow is Vera. Vera is a Candor born transfer and even after twenty years in Dauntless still has no filter. Vera is in charge of commerce, including payroll, retail outlets and also our maintenance and cleaning staff. She is easy to get along with because she will tell you what she thinks.

And she didn't think much of Eric. My first week was mainly listening to her rant at the arrogance he portrays and that she can't stand the way he looks down on the people below him. Vera was quick to point out that upsetting our maintenance staff can be catastrophic to the day to day running of our faction.

Whilst Eric was in her care he upset the head of the maintenance department, Jason, and we all found out about it. Jason decided that until Eric came and apologised for his rude behaviour towards his staff he wasn't going to be fixing any blocked toilets.

It seemed almost comical at first, that is until the toilets in the Pire blocked up and then Max had to become involved. Eric quickly made his apologies and Max even made him give Jason and his team a hand in fixing the problem. It was a good lesson to see just how important all members of our faction are and that pissing people of just because you can is not going to win you any friends. It probably has also helped me to be ahead of Eric for the leadership position. I can only hope.

* * *

Next I am put with Scott. He was a transfer from Amity and you wouldn't know it. Except for him trying to convince the chefs in the dining hall that Amity bread should be on the menu. They tell me that it has become a running joke between him and the chefs and that whenever Scott gets the chance to visit Amity he always brings back as much peace serum as he can. Lucky for me he didn't have any available because otherwise I'm sure he would have had me sitting in his office sharing some.

I tried to convince the chefs to reveal the recipe for the Dauntless cake but I didn't stand a chance. It seems that whenever someone goes to work in the kitchen they have to sign a confidentiality agreement that they will not disclose how it is made. The repercussions of disclosing such a thing has led to members been given memory serum. Also if for some reason you are made factionless you have given them written permission to administer the memory serum. All for Dauntless cake. Can't say I agree with the extreme measures but it seems no one has ever disclosed the recipe so the threat seems to be working.

Scott is also in charge of child care and any dependant issues that can arise. It seems that there is a lot of leeway given to what dependants can get up to without getting in trouble. Scott had to remind me that we are Dauntless and with that comes a certain amount of rule breaking. He said he would rather they get it out of their systems before they choose than after. Although that doesn't always work we need to remember that we are not a police state and kids will be kids.

* * *

My third month is with Graham an Erudite born. To say he doesn't like me is an understatement. He has been happy to make jabs wherever possible about me coming from Abnegation. I have too much to learn to take much notice of what he is saying.

He is in charge of the infirmary and our IT department. Both are very Erudite departments and suit his personality. I'm sure he just loved having Eric follow him around. I haven't seen much of Eric but I do know that he and Scott did not see eye to eye at all. I suppose there had to be someone who liked Eric.

What I did learn in between barbs about my old faction is that while the infirmary is always open we don't always have a doctor on the premises. We have only ever had one doctor who chose Dauntless and then went to Erudite to be trained. All other doctors we have are from Erudite. Some were Dauntless born and transferred to Erudite, these doctors will often stay in Dauntless when they are on rotation to stay here in Dauntless. It means they can see their families and not be seen as a faction traitor. The others usually travel daily to our infirmary.

Nurses are from our faction who have gone to Erudite for their training and then returned. There is always a nurse on duty and they can quickly assess you and request assistance from a doctor if needed. For the extreme and serious cases we are able to have members quickly transferred to Erudite if needed.

* * *

My last rotation is with Matt. He is Dauntless born and is the leader I will be replacing if I get the job. I'm excited that this will be the person I will be replacing because he is in charge of the control room, initiate training, weapon development and all security teams within the factions. This means that for Dauntless he is in charge of fence guards, policing and patrolling the city and Dauntless security. For the other factions he is in charge of making sure that the other factions have small but efficient security teams for their factions that are proficient in being able to defend themselves in both hand to hand and gun control.

While Matt doesn't actually train he does oversee the people who do. While our initiation instructors are good the team of trainers we have that oversee our members once they are in a specific job are extraordinary. These trainers are also in charge of keeping the leaders in the best shape they possibly can be in.

I started to work with Jeff a few months ago. Not because I have too, that comes later in training but we were in the training room one night and got to talking and I found out that in his down time he comes here to get his own training in. So we have started to train together a few nights a week. I'm sure it will help me in the next part of my training schedule as leader and I also enjoy the workout so it is a win win really.

* * *

I am on my way to Max's office for a meeting. I am sure that he will be telling Eric and I what is going to be coming up in our next stages of training. That or he will be telling me that I need to choose a different position. I knock and I hear Max say enter. I walk into the room to find Max and Matt sitting around Max's table.

"Four, good you are on time," Max says. "Sit we have some things to discuss."

I take the only available seat in the office and I wonder why Matt is also here.

"After discussions with the other leaders we have decided that we believe that you are the best man for the leadership position," Max says with a small smile.

"So from now on you will be training under Matt."

I look over and see that Matt is smiling back at me. I think I still have my mouth open in shock. I can't believe that they are actually offering me the position. I thought that with the influence of Jeanine Matthews that Eric would end up with the position. There were times when I had considered just quitting especially after spending my time with Graham. Eric must be beyond pissed at the moment

"You will also be given a personal trainer. I hear you have been working in your spare time with Jeff so I think it would be good if you continue with him, he is an excellent fighter. Matt will give you a run down on what you will be doing over the coming months. As soon as Matt feels you are ready to take over the position he will retire and you will take over the position permanently."

"For now though you will be given a week off for a reward for all your hard work. In that time, you will need to move into your new apartment in the leadership wing. These apartments are given to only our highest ranking members. This includes leaders, ambassadors, retired leaders and a few select members. While you are free to have whoever you choose visit you at your apartment remember the position you hold. You are young and while I expect you to be out socializing with your friends I would appreciate if we don't have any Dare parties held in the leadership wing. Unless all leaders are invited of course," he says with a wink.

I don't think he will need to worry about who I am inviting over to my apartment. I have lived here for six months now and I haven't had anyone visit my apartment. Although I have my friends, I like my privacy.

"Yes Sir," I say. "Thank you."

"Oh and Four. Be careful, Eric is out for blood. He isn't happy that he is out of the running for leadership. It probably didn't help that I then refused to let him become an Ambassador for Dauntless," Max says.

"Great," I say.

"One more thing Four," Max says. I turn to look at him and he says, "Eric has asked to become an initiate instructor."

"Why would you do that Max?" Matt asks.

"Matt he might be a lot of things but I think he will make a good instructor," Max says.

"I hope you're right Max," Matt says.

* * *

I walk into the dining hall hoping that Zeke and Shauna are here so I can share my good news with them. But instead I am stopped by Eric.

"Four."

"Eric."

"Don't think just because you have the position that one day I won't take it from you," Eric says.

"Well Eric, I think you need to stop coming in second place if you want that to happen," I say.

"You won't last in the position. They may think you're special but we both know you're not," he says.

"And we both know that even with Jeanine Matthews in your corner you still couldn't live up to the expectations of our Dauntless leaders," I say. With that I walk away, Eric isn't worth the trouble and if I had stayed there it would have ended up in a fight. I fight I am sure I would have won but I refuse to sink to his level. Let him think what he likes, if it wasn't for Jeanine, Max would never have had him in the leadership program to begin with.


	21. Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

TRIS POV

I am starting my last year of school today. In less than a year I will have my Choosing Ceremony. I expect that the year will drag not just for me but for all of us who are in their final year. I am walking to my faction history class and it would have to be the most boring subject that I have. Every year it is exactly the same. They teach us exactly the same thing every year. I don't understand why we have to keep learning this stuff.

I walk into the room and sit in the first seat I can find.

"Good afternoon class. My name is Mr Rogers and this is faction history," he says with a little too much excitement in his voice.

I hear the whole room grown at the same time.

"Yes, yes I know. You have been taught the same subject matter for years now. Well this year I have decided to try something different."

With this my head shoots up to actually look at the teacher, I see a lot of other students have as well.

"Now when I call your name I want you to move to the group that you have been assigned too, once everyone is in their assigned group I will explain what we will be doing."

I sit and wait for my name to be called. It seems that each group contains a person from each faction. This is very strange, usually the teachers don't like us to do anything with others outside our own faction.

"Beatrice Prior, group five," Mr Rogers says.

I look up and see that I am the last person to be assigned to a group. I walk over and stand with the rest of the people in my group. I didn't notice when I arrived but all the tables are in a different position than they usually are. They are moved so that we can sit around the tables. I also see that there is a large number on each table.

"Now I would like you all to move to the table with the number you were assigned on it. Once you are seated I can explain what is happening," he says. As we all move to where we are supposed to go. Once we are all seated and the murmuring has stopped he starts to talk again. "Now what we are going to be doing is having group work this year. You will be given scenarios to work through and depending on what faction you are from you are going to probably be looking at the situation very differently. With this I want you to be able to give a summary at the end of each assignment telling me what you learnt from having to work with different faction ideas."

"Yes Mr Pedrad."

"Lynn and I are both from Dauntless?"

"Well for some groups there aren't enough from each faction to go around. So Uriah I would ask that for this class you pretend you are from Amity. I will give you a copy of their manifesto and you can work from that," Mr Rogers says.

"Oh man, how did I get stuck being Amity?" Uriah asks.

I can't help but to laugh a little and I notice that Lynn is also laughing.

"Okay for the rest of this class I would like you to introduce yourself to the rest of your group and tell them something you both like and dislike about your faction. Uriah here is the Amity manifesto I'm sure you can be imaginative."

I think this might just have become my favourite class.

"Okay then, I'm going to start. My names Christina and . . ."

"Why should you start?" asks Uriah.

"Well you start then Mr Amity," says Christina.

Lynn cracks up laughing and that has everyone but Uriah laughing too.

"What's so funny?"

"Mr Amity, it is hilarious," Lynn says in between more laughing.

Uriah sighs and says, "continue Christina."

"So what do I like about my faction, well that would be that they taught me how to tell when someone is lying. And I don't like that for initiation you have to take truth serum and tell them all your secrets."

"That's horrible," I say.

"I agree," says Lynn. "Imagine having to spill your guts like that."

"Next?" Christina asks.

"Hi I'm Will. Erudite obviously," he says.

"Obviously," says Lynn with a roll of her eyes. I think I'm going to like Lynn.

"Well I like that we get to study whatever we like and I dislike that we have to study all the time," Will says.

"Isn't that the same thing? How can you like and dislike the same thing?" Christina asks.

"Well no it's not the same thing. I like to study different things I just don't like to study all the time," he says.

"Oh," says Christina. "Lynn."

"I'm Lynn. I like that I get to fight and I dislike pretty much everything else."

"Way to make friends Lynn," Uriah says.

"Shut up Mr Amity. Why don't you tell us about what you like about your faction," Lynn says.

I can't help but want to laugh every time Lynn calls Uriah Mr Amity. I know I have only just met him but it really seems to suit him.

"Well," Uriah starts in a high pitched girly voice. "I like that I can pick the fruit straight from the trees and eat it. I don't like that they put peace serum in the bread to make us all happy."

"They do what?" Christina asks in astonishment.

"What's with the girly voice? Do I need to call you Mrs Amity?" Lynn says.

With that I can't help but laugh. Everyone at the table has turned and is staring at me. I can't help but blush, I don't think I have ever had this much attention on me before.

"What?" I ask.

"I don't think I've ever heard someone from Abnegation laugh before," says Will. Everyone else is shaking their heads no.

"Oh, well maybe I'm not very Abnegation then," I say.

"So tell us what you like or don't like about Abnegation," Uriah says, thankfully back to his normal voice.

"I dislike the amount of rules we have to follow and I like my family," I say. "And my name is Beatrice."

"Liking your family isn't really something you like about your faction thought. Or is it that you don't really like your faction?" Lynn says.

I just shrug. Not really sure on how to answer her question. Do I not like anything about my faction? Mmm I haven't really thought about it before. I don't know that I have a simple answer to that.

"So what faction would you like to transfer to if you weren't choosing Abnegation?" Lynn asks me.

"Dauntless," I say.

"Wow you didn't even have to think about that," says Lynn.

* * *

I am walking home with Caleb, Susan and her brother Robert when Susan asks, "What did you think of faction history class Beatrice?"

"I really enjoyed it Susan. I think it is the first time I have actually liked that class," I say. "What did you think of it?"

"I thought the idea was good. But I think I am going to find it hard to enjoy the class."

"What did they do differently? Faction history is always so boring," Caleb says.

Susan and I fill him in on what we are doing this year.

"I wish I was in your faction history class. Mine was exactly the same as every other year," Caleb says.

"Well I think it depends who you have in your group. I have this Candor boy who is not very friendly at all. He kept wanting to know where we hide the food. It didn't matter how many times I tried to explain that we don't have anywhere to hide food he just wouldn't let up," Susan says.

"I have all really nice people in my group. I am looking forward to the next class," I say.

 **TOBIAS POV – YEAR TWO IN DAUNTLESS**

I am sitting at dinner with Zeke and Shauna when Uriah, Lynn and Marlene come over and join us.

"So how was your first day back at school?" Shauna asks them.

"It was great, I think I'm going to like this year," Uriah says.

"What?" Zeke says. "You hate school."

"Not anymore," Uriah says.

"What happened?" Zeke asks.

"He's in love," Lynn says.

"Shut up Lynn," Uriah says.

"Whatever you say Mr Amity," Lynn says.

"Stop calling me that," Uriah whines.

"Can someone explain what is going on here?" I ask.

"Well today the teacher decided that faction history was to boring and put us all into groups with kids form other factions. Because Uriah and I were in the same group he made Uriah pretend to be from Amity. Thus he is now called Mr Amity."

"So who is he in love with?" Shauna asks.

"Beatrice, a girl from Abnegation," Lynn says.

What did she just say? I push my plate away from me all of a sudden not feeling very hungry. I don't think I want to hear any more of this conversation. The only person who notices my reaction is Lynn.

"Guys I've got to be somewhere. I'll see you later," I say and get up from the table, feeling rather nauseous.

I walk out of the dining hall and I am leaning my back on the wall letting the cool rock face calm me down. This is ridiculous, why am I acting this way. Uriah has spent fifty minutes with her. I have no reason to be jealous. Except for the fact that he will get to spend time with her at a school every day and I am here.

"Four."

I look up to see Lynn standing in front of me. "What do you want Lynn?" I ask.

"So Beatrice is the reason no one can get you to go on a date?"

I glare at her hoping that she will just fade away. But this is Lynn we are talking about, she doesn't back down. So I just nod my head.

"You know you have nothing to worry about don't you? I mean we are talking about Uriah. He doesn't realise it but he is in love with Marlene."

"Yeah I guess. I think it's more that you both get to spend time with her every day at school. I miss her, a lot."

"Well I could always give her a message from you. Think about it, what could it hurt. She probably misses you too," Lynn says.

It feels awkward standing here talking to Lynn. I don't think we have ever had a conversation before and she isn't known for being the friendliest of people. But then neither am I.

"Thanks Lynn, I'll think about it. Can you not mention this to anyone? Not even Tris."

"Tris?"

"That's what I call her. I couldn't say Beatrice when I was little so I started calling her Tris," I say. Remembering all the beatings I got from Marcus for saying it.

"It suits her," Lynn says. "Well I'll see you later Four."

"Bye Lynn. Thank you," I say.

I walk back to my apartment and I am trying to decide whether I should give Lynn a message to Tris or not. I really don't know if I want Lynn to be giving Tris messages. I don't think Tris would feel comfortable with Lynn knowing our business. But I could write her a note though. Lynn isn't the type to read it and I know she isn't going to be running to Shauna and telling her what is going on.

* * *

I decide to skip my morning workout this morning and instead hope that I can catch Lynn having breakfast before she goes to school. I decided to write a note to Tris although it isn't much. I sat there for hours trying to decide exactly what I wanted to say.

I was lucky enough to have seen her when I went home to visit the family on Visiting Day. I thought it would be easier for me to go back to Abnegation for the day than for them to visit me here in Dauntless. Plus, I really wanted to visit Natasha and my new brother Nathaniel and sister Jessica. I feel sorry for Natasha, she had to put up with my father and then he was sent to prison and now she is trying to raise two babies by herself. She is getting a lot of help from Abnegation, which makes me feel good. It's nice to know that there are more good people in Abnegation.

I find Lynn sitting at a table by herself, so before I get myself any food I quickly go over so I can give her my note before anyone else sees.

"Lynn can you give this to Tris for me?" I hand Lynn an envelope with Tris's name on it.

Just as she is about to put it in her pocket Zeke and Shauna come over and see it.

"Whose Tris?" Zeke asks, nodding at the envelope. I can feel myself start to panic. Lynn quickly shoves it in her pocket so no one else can see it.

"Me, dumbass," says Lynn.

"What?" says Zeke.

"It's the secret name Four calls me when we are alone," Lynn says and both Lynn and I start laughing.

"Is there something you two want to tell us?" asks Shauna.

"No," we both say at the same time and laugh again.

I quickly get up and go and grab some food. When I get back I hear Lynn saying, "Yeah right Shauna. It's the name he calls me when we are having crazy sex up in his apartment."

"Four, are you dating my little sister?" Shauna asks.

"What? What have you been telling them? As if Lynn would want to be with me," I say. Not really knowing what is going on.

Lynn is laughing hysterically.

"So who is Tris then?" Zeke asks.

Lynn looks at me and I just nod. I don't feel like we are going to get out of this one and Lynn may as well tell them so the questions can be over with.

"Tris is Beatrice," Lynn says.

"Beatrice?" Zeke looks really confused. He must have really been listening to his brother at dinner last night.

"Beatrice, the girl that Uriah was talking about at dinner last night," Shauna says. "Weren't you paying attention?"

"To Uriah? No," says Zeke. "So how has Beatrice become Tris overnight? And Four how do you know her?"

"She's the reason he wouldn't go on any of those stupid dates with you Zeke," Lynn says.

"So there really is a girl. Wow I just thought you were acting really . . . Stiff," Zeke says.

"So Uriah is in love with Four's girlfriend?" Shauna says.

"Four has a girlfriend," says Uriah as he reaches the table, obviously not hearing the first part of what was said.

"Yeah, well it seems you my little brother have picked the wrong girl to fall in love with. See Four has a thing for Tris," Zeke says.

"Who's Tris?" Uriah asks.

Oh god. I just grown and put my head on the table. It is too early in the morning for all of this.

Lynn has started laughing again. I am so glad she is able to laugh at my pain of embarrassment here.

"Well Mr Amity," Lynn says.

"Stop calling me that," Uriah says.

"Aren't you going to be late for school?" I ask. Hoping they will all go so I can get some peace. Why did I write the letter?

"No Four. Nobody expects Dauntless to be on time for school," Uriah says.

"Well maybe I will start making it a priority," I say.

"Shesh you have been a leader for five minutes and you are going to start picking on the dependants as your first priority," Uriah says.

I just shake my head. "I've got work to do. I'll see you all later," I say. "Thanks Lynn."

 **TRIS POV**

"Tris."

There is only one person that calls me that and that wasn't his voice that I heard. It wasn't even male. I turn around to see Lynn running towards me.

"Hey," I say. "Who told you about that name?"

"Four," she says. "He also asked me to give you this." She pulls an envelope out of her pocket and gives it to me.

"Thanks," I say.

"So you should come and sit with Uriah, Marlene and I at lunch."

"Marlene?"

"She is my best friend. You may as well come and sit with us, I mean you're going to be Dauntless soon anyway."

"Okay," I say. "Are we allowed to sit together at lunch?"

"Who cares. They are making us do that group thing in class, so why can't we eat lunch together?"

"Alright, I'll see you at lunch then."

* * *

I walk into the lunch room and I am looking for Lynn. I see Uriah first, he is standing on a table and waving me over. I just shake my head, only Dauntless borns would be standing on tables.

"Hi," I say.

"Hi Tris," Uriah says.

"So everyone knows," I say looking at Lynn.

"Don't worry about it, we just think that Tris is way more Dauntless than Beatrice is, so we are going to call you Tris," Uriah says. "Oh and Tris this is Marlene."

"Hi Marlene, it's nice to meet you," I say.

"Hi Tris. It is really good to meet you too. I have been excited all day, I have been wondering what the girl that had Four's heart would look like," she says. She is way too happy but seems really nice.

"Whose heart do you have?" Christina says as she sits at the table. I didn't know that she had been invited to sit here but I like that we are becoming friends out of class.

"Four's," says Uriah.

"Like in the number?" Christina says.

"Yeah, it's a Dauntless thing. Don't worry about it," says Lynn.

"So what you are telling me that our quiet little friend here from Abnegation has captured the heart of a Dauntless guy," says Christina.

"Not just _any_ Dauntless guy. Four is like the ultimate warrior and a leader," says Uriah.

"Sounds like you're in love with him Uriah," says Lynn.

"Shut up Lynn," Uriah says.

"Whatever Mr Amity."

"And how did you do this? Christina asks me. I really don't think Tobias would want everyone knowing where he is from or who he is related to.

"It's nothing Christina," I say. "Is that a new nail polish you have on?"

"Yeah, do you like it? I went shopping after school yesterday with my mum and she bought it for me."

"It really suits you," I say. If there is one thing I have learnt being in Abnegation, it is how to deflect the attention away from myself. And Christina does like to have the attention on herself so it is easy to change the subject with her.

* * *

 _Thank you to Paula08 for the idea of bringing the gang together before they got to Dauntless. I hope you what_ _I came up with._


	22. Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

TRIS POV

I was so glad for the school day to end. It meant I could finally go home and open the envelope that Lynn gave me from Tobias. I go up to my room and open the envelope and find there is a note in there. I open the note:

 _Dear Tris_

 _I don't really know what to write. But when I found out that you were having classes with Lynn and Uriah I knew that I wanted to write to you._

I can just imagine how uncomfortable he was sitting in his apartment trying to write this.

 _Life in Dauntless is good although I do miss you a lot. I have even had times when I have missed Caleb. Never thought I would be admitting to that._

I can't help but laugh at that.

 _It's funny that you are becoming friends with Uriah and Lynn because Uriah's brother Zeke and Lynn's sister Shauna are my closest friends here in Dauntless. If I'm not working I usually hang out with them. Although lately I have felt like a third wheel because Shauna and Zeke have just started dating._

That's good, for a minute I was thinking he was going to tell me that he liked Shauna.

 _Shauna has had a crush on Zeke since before I arrived here in Dauntless but it took Zeke a while to catch on that she liked him. It's a bit like Uriah not realising that Marlene has a crush on him. Must be a Pedrad brother thing._

 _How are Nathaniel and Jessica? I saw dad at the last council meeting and he said that everyone was good._

 _I don't know what else to say, I'm not very good at this. Just that I really miss you._

 _Tobias_

I really miss you too I think to myself. I get paper out of my school bag and start to write back to Tobias.

* * *

I can't believe how quickly the first month of school has gone. I think maybe it has something to do with the fact that I have proper friends now. Christina, Will, Uriah, Marlene, Lynn and I now have our own table in the lunch room. Caleb, Susan and Robert sometimes join us as well. Also Edward and Myra, they are from Erudite and are friends with Will, will come and join us too.

Lunch is just about over and we have all gotten up to leave the lunch room when Lynn stops me.

"Tris are you serious about transferring to Dauntless?" she asks.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well I was thinking I could help you," Lynn says.

"What do you mean?" I ask. Lynn pulls me away from our friends.

"Can you get me some Abnegation clothes?" Lynn asks.

"Umm, yeah, I suppose. What are you thinking Lynn?"

"Just get me the clothes and I will explain it all later. I don't want anyone to know what we are doing, so it will be easier if I explain it to you at your place," Lynn says. At my house? Lynn wants to come to Abnegation, I don't know I will just have to wait and see I guess.

TOBIAS POV

"Max I don't think we should have so many of our guards guarding the fence. Especially with winter coming. We could use more guards in the city," I say.

"Four our fence guards no what they are getting when they accept the job. They can handle a bit of snow," Max says.

"I understand that. But if we drop to twenty-five per cent of what we now have and put them at the fence for only three weeks at a time over winter we are going to have happier fence guards. We have Amity guards there as well, even if they won't carry weapons they can always radio our guys if they need to. We all know the factionless commit more crimes in winter, we can have extra guards throughout the city to help stop this," I say.

"That could work. Have you had any contact with your mother? I hear she is leading the factionless now."

"Natalie?"

"Sorry I forget that you think of Natalie as your mother. I meant Evelyn," Max says.

"No I haven't spoken to Evelyn in years. She came to Abnegation a few years ago and tried to have me leave and join her and the factionless. Obviously I refused," I say.

"It might be a good idea to take a few guards and do some sweeps of the factionless area. The factionless have been too quiet lately, maybe if you accidently run in to Evelyn she may tell you what they are up to," Max says.

I don't like this idea. I don't want to spend any time with Evelyn, I am still having issues with the fact that she left me with that monster. But it is probably the only way we will be able to find out what is going on. Crime in factionless areas is down fifty percent on five years ago. Something is going on.

"I'll see what I can do. I doubt she will open up to me but you never know," I say.

There is a knock on Max's door and Scott is standing in the door way.

"Just letting you know I am on my way to the high school," Scott says.

"What's going on?" Max asks.

"Some of our dependants are mixing with other faction dependants at lunch and the principal is not happy. They wanted to see the parents but I said I would go on their behalf," Scott says.

"That would be Uriah, Lynn and Marlene?" I ask.

"Yeah it is. How did you know?" Scott asks.

"I'm friends with their siblings. The faction history teacher decided that the students should learn more about each faction from working with each other in class. The students seem to be enjoying it," I say.

"That would be a first, isn't faction history the most boring subject they make them take?" Max says.

"Pretty much. You seem to know a lot about this Four," Scott says.

"Yeah. Do you want me to go down to the school for you?" I ask.

"That would be great. I hate dealing with the high school. I understand why our members don't want to go there for the meeting. They always make them feel like idiots," Scott says.

"No problem. What time is the meeting?" I ask.

"As soon as you get there," Scott says.

"Okay, well I'll see you both later. I'll let you know how I get on Scott," I say.

"Thanks Four. I definitely owe you one," Scott says.

"I'll remember that," I say with a laugh. I probably won't ever ask him for a favour, he is so easy to get along with that I don't mind helping him out.

Although he is really doing me a favour because there is a good chance I will get to see Tris.

"Oh and Four," Max says as I'm leaving the office. "Move the fence guards for a trial period. We will see how it goes. But try to get in contact with Evelyn. I don't trust the factionless."

"Ok I will but I don't trust Evelyn so it should be interesting," I say. "And Max thanks for the okay with the fence guards."

* * *

I jump off the train and I am making my way over to the school when I see dad and Mr Black.

"Dad," I call out.

Mr Black and dad both turn. Dad says something to Mr black and stops and waits for me while Mr Black continues into the building.

"Tobias not that it isn't good to see you but what are you doing here?"

"Good to see you to dad. I volunteered to come down and try and sort this thing out about the lunch breaks. Is that why you are here?"

"I didn't know Dauntless would send someone from leadership. I thought they were calling the parents," dad says.

"Yeah we have found that our members can feel uncomfortable dealing with an Erudite principal. So when it is numerous students involved we try to handle the situation. Less chance of violence if a leader comes down here," I say.

I thought Scott usually dealt with the dependants," dad says.

"He does but I am friends with the Dauntless students involved and knew what was going on so they sent me," I say.

"Plus you may get to see Beatrice?" Dad says.

I just smile.

"Come on we better get this over with," he says.

"Four."

I turn around and I am standing face to face with Jeanine Matthews.

"Jeanine," I say.

"Congratulations are in order. Andrew you must be proud to see that Four has become a leader in Dauntless," Jeanine says.

"Yes he has done very well for himself," dad says.

"Well if you ever need anything Four just let me know. It is always good to be able to help others in similar positions," Jeanine says.

"Thank you Jeanine. I will keep that in mind," I say.

"That's very selfless of you Jeanine," Dad says.

I have to stop myself from laughing at this. It looks like Jeanine is trying not to vomit in disgust.

"Well we have a meeting to get to. It was good to see you Jeanine," I say.

"Yes I will be attending the same meeting," Jeanine says.

"I didn't know you had a child Jeanine," dad says.

"I was very interested to hear what had been happening with the students. I thought it would be in Erudite's best interest if I sat in on this meeting. Also there are a number of Erudite students involved so I told their parents that I would attend the meeting on their behalf," Jeanine says.

I just nod and dad says, "so there must be something in this for you then Jeanine."

"Yes of course, our dependants are extremely important to me. They are our future Andrew," Jeanine says.

We get to the principal's office and outside the office are eleven students all sitting talking and laughing with each other. I see Tris and all I want to do is go up and hug her but that would be so inappropriate in this setting so I just give her a smile.

I then hear a girl in Candor colours say, "whoa who is that?" I have to stop myself from laughing.

"FOUR!" Uriah, Lynn and Marlene all call out to me.

"So that's Four, nice," says the Candor girl eyeing me off like I'm a piece of meat. Disgusting.

"What are you doing here?" Lynn asks.

"I'm here instead of your parents," I say.

"Where's Scott?" Uriah asks.

"How often are you in trouble?" I ask Uriah.

"What?" Uriah asks.

"Well how else would you know it is usually Scott who comes down here for this type of thing?" I ask.

"Not as much as Zeke was," Uriah says.

"Christina what have you been doing?" Shouts a Candor woman who is walking down the hallway towards us.

"Oh crap, she does not look happy," says the girl I am assuming is Christina.

Mr Edwards the principal has opened the door to his office. He seems to look a little shocked.

"Ms Matthews I didn't know that you would be interested in such matters as these," Mr Edwards says.

"Well Mr Edwards it seems that I have quite a few upset parents and I thought it was better if I came here and found out exactly what the problem is," Jeanine says.

Mr Edwards ushers us into his office and leaves the students playing in the hallway. We walk in to find there are five seats across from Mr Edwards desk. We all take a seat and wait for Mr Edwards to sit in his seat. He is looking extremely nervous and I have to wonder if it is because Jeanine is here.

"So what is the issues you need to discuss Mr Edwards?" Jeanine asks.

"Well it is just one issue. We are having trouble with the students that are now sitting in the hallway. We have asked them on numerous occasions to sit within their factions seating at lunch and these students are refusing. We cannot have this type of rebellion in the school," he says.

"I need you," he says pointing to the five of us sitting in front of him. "I need you to explain to them that this is unacceptable."

I can't believe this idiot. Like it's anyone's fault but the schools.

"I think it is because of your teaching staff that we have this problem," I say.

Everybody is looking at me like I have grown an extra head.

"Why would you think that Four?" Jeanine asks me.

"Obviously Mr Edwards here hasn't been taking any notice of what is being taught in his school," I say.

"How dare you. I am well aware what is being taught in my school," he says.

"Really? Well if you are so aware of what is being taught then maybe you could explain to us what is the problem here?" I say.

"What is being taught does not involve what is happening in the lunch room," he says.

"Well it does now," I say.

"Four do you think you could be a little more specific on why you think this?" Jeanine asks.

"Of course Jeanine. It seems Mr Rodgers who teaches faction history has been getting his students to work in groups. One student from each faction per group. Now from what the students have told me it is the most interesting class they have. Since the students have been mixing in class they seem to now be enjoy mixing at lunchtime," I say.

"Is this true?" Dad asks.

"Well I'm not sure. I didn't know that Mr Rodgers was doing such a thing," he says. "I will need to talk to Mr Rodgers about this."

"Maybe before calling so many people to your office for this you could have talked to the students. I am sure if you listened to where the idea came from for them to have lunch together, we may not have been having this conversation," I say. "Now what I really want to know is what is the problem? Does it really matter if they are having lunch together?"

"I agree with Four," says Jeanine.

"Y-you, y-you do?" Mr Edwards stutters out.

"I would be fascinated to see whether this has any influence on what these students may choose at their Choosing Ceremony. I would like to know if mixing with other faction dependants will carry more weight than their aptitude test results," Jeanine says.

Always looking to study something. Typical Jeanine.

"I thought Faction before blood was something that Erudite and Dauntless both took very seriously. Now you are advocating for our children to all mix," the Candor woman says.

"Stephanie I think we can still appreciate Faction before blood. But, I believe we have an opportunity here to study just how our dependants make their decision when they choose. For example, Four here had an Abnegation result. As you can see he chose Dauntless. Not only that, he exceled in training and became the number one initiate and has since gone on to become a Dauntless leader. Now I would like to be able to take this situation and instead of discouraging them I would like to see what happens as the school year progresses. I would also like to ask permission from each student's parents to interview them and see how this situation changes their perspective towards other factions," says Jeanine.

"Jeanine I would want to see exactly what you have planned for my children before I would consent to such a thing," dad says.

You can tell he doesn't trust Jeanine but you can also see his Erudite roots coming through. I think he would be interested to see the results of what comes out of Jeanine's study.

"Andrew I will put a package together for you and the other parents. I will also give each parent the results of what our findings are. Of course I will keep each child's name out of this. You must remember that this will not conclude until they have chosen next year. I would also like to interview Mr Rodgers and find out what he was thinking by changing the curriculum," Jeanine says.

"So for now Mr Edwards I think we are in agreeance that there is no harm in our children having a lunch break together. Jeanine I would appreciate that we are given all the information before you try to interview any of our children and that you do not interview any child that has not been approved by their parent for the study," dad says.

"Of course," says Jeanine.

"What am I supposed to tell the other students? There is going to be anarchy in my school," Mr Edwards says.

"Mr Edwards I think you are panicking over nothing. There haven't been any problems so far. If in the future and only if, then we can then re-evaluate the situation," I say.

"Very well," he says.

"Mr Edwards I will have someone from my staff contact you so that we can get these information packages out to the parents as soon as possible," Jeanine says.

"As you wish Ms Matthews," Mr Edwards says, sounding very defeated.

"Now if that is all Mr Edwards I would like a private word with my son and daughter," dad says.

"Yes of course I will go and get them for you Mr Prior," he says.

The other parents and Jeanine all leave. As I am about to go dad puts his hand on my arm and says, "stay."

Caleb is the first to walk through the door and then Tris. Caleb comes straight over and gives me a hug.

"Beatrice shut the door please," dad says.

"Good to see you, bro," says Caleb

"You too," I say.

Caleb lets me go and next Tris comes flying at me. I quickly pick her up and hug her.

"I've missed you," I whisper in her ear. I feel her shiver and it's good to know I have the same effect on her as she does on me.

I put Tris down but I don't let her go. We probably only have a few minutes before it will look suspicious that we are in here.

"So you two are causing all sorts of trouble," I say but I am laughing.

"We didn't mean to," Tris says.

"Sure you didn't," I say.

"Tobias we are going to have to go," dad says.

"Bye Tobias, I hope we can see you again soon," Caleb says.

"We will give you a minute," dad says.

"Thank you for your note," Tris says.

"Oh god, it sucked. I am really bad at writing," I say with a chuckle.

"It was really thoughtful Tobias," she says.

"We have to go," I say.

"I know," she says.

We stay there just holding each other when we hear a knock on the door.

"I wrote you back. Lynn has it. I didn't know I would see you today," Tris says.

"I can't wait to read it. I'll try and write back but I can't promise it will be good," I say.

"It's just nice to know that you are thinking of me," she says.

"Tris I am only thinking of you, always," I say.

"Me too Tobias," she says.

I give her a quick kiss on the top of her head and let her go.

"Come on back to reality," I say and I open the door.

We walk out of the office and dad, Caleb, Uriah, Lynn and Marlene are all waiting for us.

"It's about time," says Uriah. "What the hell were you two doing in there?"

"Come on you three, I think you can come back with me," I say pointing at Uriah, Lynn and Marlene.

"Yes, punishment is to be let out early from school. I could get used to this," says Uriah.

"Don't. Now start walking," I say.

I turn to Tris, Caleb and dad and say, "Bye." Then I drag the three misfits out of the building with me.

* * *

I jump onto the train with Uriah, Lynn and Marlene.

"I have this for you Four," Lynn says and she hands me what I am assuming is the note from Tris.

"Thanks Lynn," I say.

"So did you do it in the principal's office Four?" Uriah asks.

"Really Uriah? Get your head out of the gutter," I say.

"What? You were in there a while by yourselves," Uriah says.

I just shake my head, there is no use trying to talk to him.

"You're just jealous Uriah," Lynn says.

"Am not," says Uriah.

"Enough, seriously I've heard enough shit for one day," I say.

"So are we in trouble Four?" Marlene asks.

"No you're not Marlene. Mr Edwards has decided that you can continue to have lunch with your friends. Although there is a catch," I say.

"What's the catch?" Lynn asks.

"Erudite are going to be asking your parents if they can ask you some questions. They want to know if interacting with other children from different factions will have an effect on what faction you choose at your Choosing Ceremony," I say.

"Hell no. I'm Dauntless," says Uriah.

I can't help but laugh. I have no doubt that none of these three will be choosing anything but Dauntless. But they may influence others in choosing Dauntless. I don't think I will let Uriah know this though.

"Can our parents say no?" Marlene asks.

"Sure. They can't do anything without your parent's permission," I say. "Don't worry about it. I'll go and talk to your families when we get back so that they don't get any shocks. You aren't in trouble so don't worry Marlene," I say.

I don't trust Jeanine. I don't like Jeanine. But this could help to hide anyone who is divergent because it will be blamed on the activities at school. This could work in our favour. Jeanine may be a genius but it doesn't always work in her favour Thank goodness.

* * *

I have spent the last four weeks doing spot inspection of the factionless sectors with some of our guards. The guards have become my new best friends ever since I told them they only had to do a three-week stint at the fence over winter.

The conditions out there are nearly as bad as the initiates bathrooms. I seriously need to see about some upgrades for them. They are so appreciative that they can now come home to their own bed at night that I could probably ask them to stand on their heads for the day and they would do it. Not that I would but it is better to try and keep our members happy.

Plus, I am hoping to start a new training scheme for our members to keep their skills up. I can't believe that we don't have them training once they finish initiation. The fence guards really need to be treated better. The city patrols have a much better program that incorporates extra training. Maybe now that the fence guards are helping the city patrols we can have them in the patrols training programme.

I still haven't seen Evelyn out here on my patrols. If it wasn't for Max asking me every time I come back how it went I think I would stop coming.


	23. Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

TRIS POV

I walk into the girl's bathroom on the ground floor of our school building. Lynn asked me to meet her here after school. I walk in and I can't help but to laugh. Lynn is standing there in the Abnegation clothes she asked me to bring her.

"Why are you in my clothes?" I ask.

"Why else would I ask to borrow your clothes?" Lynn says.

"I don't know. Why are you doing this?" I ask.

"Tris if you want to come to Dauntless then you need to learn how to fight properly. I know you and Caleb have been working on self-defence moves but seriously that is not going to be enough. You are a girl and you are going to be fighting guys who are twice the size as you. I am going to teach you how to really fight," Lynn says.

"You would do that for me?" I ask. I can't believe that Lynn is offering me this opportunity.

"Yes," Lynn says.

"Well then we better fix your hair. You can't have it up in a ponytail like you do. Here let me put it in an Abnegation bun for you," I say.

"I'm going to shave it all off for initiation," Lynn says.

"Lynn you have beautiful hair. Why would you do that?" I say.

"Well I don't want the guys to think of me as a girl and I especially don't want them to use my hair against me," she says.

"What do you mean? How can they use your hair against you?" I ask.

"Come on let's get out of here, you have much to learn," She says.

We are walking home and no one would know that Lynn isn't Abnegation. She is doing a good job of blending in. I never thought I would see Lynn being able to act so humble.

"How do you wear these clothes all the time? They are horrible," she says.

I can't help but laugh. It must be really uncomfortable for her.

"I don't know, it's all I've ever known," I say.

"I'm going to have to bring you some Dauntless clothes to train in. These clothes will just get in the way," she says.

* * *

Lynn and I have been training together for three months now. I am finally starting to get good at this. The first few times I was not prepared for just how intense Lynn could be. She is truly Dauntless. Caleb is totally intimidated by Lynn. I think the fact she accidently punched him and it knocked him on his bottom didn't help. But it was really funny.

We have just finished our training session for the day. We can only practise two days a week because of my volunteering obligations. We hide in the meadow at the back of my house. Mum has even come out and watch Lynn and I spar. She seems to enjoy it, maybe she misses Dauntless more than she is willing to admit.

I could never have imagined my mum as a Dauntless but then she showed me her tattoos and that's when I could finally see her as a Dauntless. Then she surprised me and actually sparred with me. While she was a little rusty to begin with she knew what she was doing and it was kind of fun.

We are sitting in the meadow catching our breath.

"Lynn why me? You are helping me out but Christina and Myra have talked about transferring to Dauntless as well," I say.

"My sister Shauna. She went through initiation with Zeke and Four. The rule was that if you didn't get enough points during initiation that you could become factionless. Well Shauna couldn't fight, she was really hopeless. It was embarrassing. Anyway she asked Four to help her and he did. If it wasn't for Four than my sister might have become factionless. I owe him for that. I have never told him and I know he wouldn't accept anything I tried to do for him," She says.

"You know he hasn't looked at another girl since he has been in Dauntless. He always had Zeke trying to get him to go on double dates with him but he would just get angry with Zeke and walk off. At first we wondered if he was gay. Also there is always some girl who is trying to get his attention. It's sad really, they have no chance. It wasn't until we met that we found out that Four liked girls and it wasn't even girls. It was one girl and one girl only. This is my way of saying thank you to Four," she says.

"I couldn't imagine what it would be like if Shauna had become factionless. We aren't always close but she is my sister and it would have broken my little brother Hector's heart. So that's when I made sure that I could fight. When I'm not here sparring with you I am sparring with a group of Dauntless. We get together on weekends and occasionally though the week. They have taught me so much and now I get to teach you."

"Thank you Lynn," I say. I don't know what else to say to her. She has opened up; Lynn doesn't usually say much but it's nice to see how much she loves her family. I'm glad she shared. I'm also really glad she is helping me to learn to fight.

TOBIAS POV

"Four," Max calls out to me as I am passing his office.

"Max," I say standing is his door way.

"Come in and close the door," he says. "Are you on your way to our meeting?"

"Yes I am," I say.

"Look Four, when we are in this meeting I need you to keep your cool in front of Jeanine. I don't know what she is up to but I think we are getting closer to finding out. She wanted Eric for leader. She started to promise me all kinds of shit I knew she couldn't deliver on. The only way she could deliver half of what she was promising was to be in charge of the council," he says.

"This is the first meeting she will be coming to Dauntless for since I didn't give Eric the leadership position. Don't even bother asking about how she reacted when Eric didn't get the position. So I don't know what she is going to be saying here today. I need you to keep your cool. Just let her speak unless you are asking a technical question. Do not let her think that you don't like her. She is a master manipulator and she is very good at reading body language. Just be careful in there. She is really good friends with Graham and she also has a good relationship with Vera. But Vera being Vera, well we all know how unpredictable she can be. You never know which way she will vote on an issue."

"No problem Max, I understand," I say.

"Good. Now let's go and see what this bitch wants," Max says.

We walk into the meeting room, the one that I started my leadership training in. My first thought is that if I get bored at least I can look at the view. We are the last of the Dauntless leaders to arrive now we are just waiting for Jeanine and whoever she may bring.

"Good afternoon Dauntless," Jeanine says as she walks into the room with two men in blue.

"Jeanine," Max says. "What can we do for you today?"

"Well my scientists, as usual, have been extremely busy trying to come up with ways to benefit our great city," she says.

All I can think is, what she trying to sell here. With the warning I got from Max there must be something big that is going to happen. I wonder if this is what Evelyn was talking about.

"Now we have come up with a tracking serum that we can inject into your members so that if they go missing we will be able to locate them," she says.

"Do we have statistics on how many of our members have ever gone missing?" Scott asks.

Max just shakes his head no.

"I would rather have the statistics before I sign off on our members being injected with a serum," Scott says.

"Scott I would think keeping your members safe would be more important than worrying about the injection itself," says Jeanine. "This could help find someone if they are in trouble and can't get back to Dauntless."

"Why a serum?" I ask. "What I mean is wouldn't a GPS microchip be more effective? How long would a serum last?"

"Well _Four_ ," Jeanine says. I can already hear the disdain in her voice. "Erudite scientists have deemed this a more efficient way of administering the tracking devise."

"We would start with Dauntless and eventually proceed to the other factions. It would only be activated if the member was missing. Unlike a microchip that would tell us where a person is at all times. We feel that if we use a microchip it could be invading member's privacy as the chip would be active at all times. I'm sure as leaders of this faction you would not want your whereabouts disclosed to the wrong people," she says.

I can't really argue with what she is saying but I don't like the thought of being injected with a serum that I really know nothing about.

"Is there a reversal serum? Like with the truth serum Candor have. Say a member was kidnapped, could the person give them a reversal serum so that we wouldn't be able to track them?" I ask.

"Only a select few high ranking members of Erudite would have access to such a thing. But no we do not have a reversal serum at this time."

"Well Jeanine, I think you have given us all something to think about. We will have a discussion and get back to you as soon as possible," Max says.

"Thank you all for your time. I will be awaiting your decision Max," Jeanine says.

Jeanine and her flunkies leave.

"I think this is a great idea," Graham says. "It is better to be safe than sorry. I would hate something to happen to one of our members and we couldn't find them because we didn't take Jeanine up on this offer."

"When was the last time we had a missing member?" Scott asks. "This serum sounds good in theory but I'm still sceptical of why it is in a serum. I think Four had the right idea, a microchip seems more practical."

"Do you really want to be able to be tracked all the time Scott?" Vera asks him. "There are times I am sure you don't want people to know where you are."

There seems to be some kind of double meaning to that. I have to wonder what Scott could be hiding. I could imagine Vera having some interesting secrets. There are always rumours about who she is having an affair with, she seems to have gotten around a lot of our Dauntless members, both male and female. But Scott I'm surprised that he has secrets.

"They don't have to turn the microchip on Vera. And I'm only talking out loud. I'm not saying we shouldn't agree to do it, I just want to look at it from all angles," Scott says.

"Okay let's do a quick vote. I don't want to have to sit here all afternoon. Majority rules. Hands up who wants this tracking serum?" Max says.

Graham raises his hand a little too quickly I think. Vera raises her hand as well. I think the concept is a good idea but it is a serum. It probably won't work on anyone who is divergent. So even if I went missing I probably wouldn't be found by the tracking serum anyway. I'm sure that there are others who would have the same problem as me.

It doesn't matter what I think, Scott has just put his hand up. I think it is only because he is hiding something. Not that he is working for Erudite, I think it's a more personal issue.

"So does that mean you aren't in favour Four?" Graham asks.

"Not at all. I think in theory it is a great idea. I would just like more information before I start injecting our members," I say.

I know Graham is testing me here. I can feel it, especially after my conversation with Max. Well it looks like our members are going to be injected.

"Okay let's wrap this up. It's the weekend and I for one would like to finish my day early. I will ring Jeanine on Monday and give her our answer. Let her stew for a few days," Max says. "Have a great weekend everyone."

* * *

Max has agreed that this is the last week that I will be going out on patrol looking for Evelyn. On these patrols I have noticed that there is more order between the factionless. Even when you see them getting food or clothing from the Abnegation volunteers, there isn't the push and shove that there used to be. I am just about to call it a day when I hear her call my name.

"Tobias," Evelyn says.

I turn to the guards that I am with and say, "Stay here. I need to talk to her for a moment."

"Whatever you need Four. Just call out if you need us," Chris the leader of the group says.

"Thanks," I say.

I walk over to Evelyn. "Evelyn," I say.

"Look how much you have grown. I almost didn't recognise you. I was a little shocked when I heard you transferred to Dauntless," She say. "I thought you may have stayed, you know, with the Prior's taking you in."

"My leaving had nothing to do with the Prior's. They have always treated me well. I have so much to thank them for," I say. Hoping she will understand that I am trying to have a dig at her inept parenting, not that what I said about the Prior's isn't true.

"Tobias," Evelyn says.

"Evelyn my name is now Four. I would appreciate if you could use that," I say.

"Fine, Four," she says. "What are you doing out here?"

"I heard you were the factionless leader. We have noticed that the factionless are becoming, well, better behaved," I say.

"So you are reaching out to me as a leader, not as your mother," She says.

"Why would I reach out to you as my mother?"

"Tobias," she says.

Before she can say anything else I cut her off. "My name is Four," I say. "You have no right to call me anything else."

"Four, please," she says. "I am still your mother."

"No you gave up that right a long time ago. Natalie is my mother. She was the one that was there for me when I needed you. She was the one who protected me from that monster," I say. "What did you do? You waited until it suited you to come and try and have a relationship with me. You tried to rip me out of a home where I was loved to join you. To give me no future, to become factionless."

"Four it wasn't like that."

"Look Evelyn I'm not here to reminisce about old times. I am here only for business. As a Dauntless leader we want to know what is going on with the factionless. We think it is better to have a line of communication open with you. That way we can better protect everyone, not just faction members but the factionless as well," I say.

"There isn't much to tell you we are looking after our own. We are trying to make a community," she says. But I find that hard to believe. Evelyn never does anything unless she will benefit from it.

"Really Evelyn? You want me to believe that? Because I don't," I say.

"Well times are changing, Four. We are preparing ourselves," she says.

"For what?" I ask.

"Have you not read the reports. Erudite want to run this city. Jeanine Matthews is not going to stop until she has the power. We are preparing for when that happens," she says.

"You think the factionless can take over the government?"

"If Jeanine tries to take control, then yes. We will do what we can to stop her," she says. "We are stronger than you think. We could use someone like you Four. It could benefit both you and I if you came to join me."

This makes me laugh. "You really think I am going to leave my faction; the faction I chose to help you? I don't think so. Watch yourself Evelyn, for now only Dauntless are watching what is happening with the factionless. But it will eventually come to the attention of the other factions. You know that we have the power to break up the factionless. Stop you from grouping together," I say.

"You wouldn't do that to me," she says. "I know you still have feelings for me. You will come around."

"No Evelyn I don't. I haven't had feelings for you for a very long time," I say. "What you did, that will never be reversed. You need to realise that I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Max. I hadn't thought about you in a very long time."

"Four, please," she says, again.

"No Evelyn. If you see me, it will only be for business. I don't want or need a relationship with you," I say. I walk away, I go back to the Dauntless guards. I will let Max know what is going on, Hopefully I won't need to come back here again. Maybe we need to set up a liaison to deal with Evelyn and the factionless because I don't know how many meetings I could stand having with her. Join her and her factionless friends. I don't think so.


	24. Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

TRIS POV

Lynn has come up with this crazy idea that she should sneak me into Dauntless for the day. I don't know how I let her talk me into this. Even mum has agreed that I could go. But we are keeping this from Dad, if he found out, well I don't want to think about that right now.

Lynn thinks that this will convince me that I should definitely be in Dauntless. All because I admitted that I didn't know if I could leave my family. Although I know I want to be with Tobias, there is still this little part of me that would like to stay with my family. It's stupid really, mum and dad have both said that they will still love me if I transfer.

So I am standing in the middle of my bedroom dressed in the dauntless clothes that Lynn gave me to wear. I just need to put my Abnegation dress on over the top until I get out of the house. I hear a knock at my door and my mums voice telling me that it is just her at my door.

I open the door and she quickly enters and shuts the door.

"Are you ready?" she asks.

"I think so," I say.

"Beatrice go and enjoy yourself for the day. Try to avoid seeing Tobias, I don't think he will be happy if he sees you sneaking around Dauntless. What I mean is, is that he will be happy to see you but he will also be worried. If you get caught it can cause a lot of problems for a lot of people," mum says. "Now put your dress on and let's get you to the train to meet Lynn."

"Thank you so much mum. I would never have thought of doing something like this. I am so excited to see Dauntless," I say.

"I know you are," Mum says.

We meet Lynn at the spot where we will need to jump on the train. I take my Abnegation clothes off and put them in the backpack Lynn lent me. Lynn taught me a few weeks ago how to jump on and off the train. So I shouldn't have any trouble getting on or off. Although when I first started I was terrible at it. I have the skinless knees to prove it.

* * *

Lynn and I are walking around the Pit. This place is amazing. There are people everywhere and it is so loud. I love it here, the thought that I will have to go home in a few hours makes me sad. There are shops. I have never seen anything like this. In Abnegation we are given the clothes we need, we don't have any choice on what we wear but here there is so much on offer.

I am sure my eyes are bugging out of my head with all I am getting to see. We walk past a tattoo parlour and it is out of this world. When we walk in I can see people getting an actual tattoo. After seeing mum's, I wish I could get one. Well if I transfer I think it will be the first thing I will do.

"Let's go have lunch," Lynn says. "I can't wait for you to try the cake."

"The cake?" I ask.

"Come on I will show you," she says.

We walk into the dining hall and I can't believe my eyes. There are hundreds of Dauntless in here eating. We don't have anything like this in Abnegation.

"Sit here," Lynn says. "I will go and get us some food. I think it would be too obvious if you go and try and pick something to eat."

I am sitting where she told me to sit. I probably should be trying to lay low but I can't help but to look around the room. Almost everyone has either a tattoo or a piercing showing. There are so many shades of hair colour here. It is different to look at here than at school. At school it just looks like teenagers rebelling but here they just blend in.

Lynn sits down and gives me a tray of food. I don't think I know half of what is on my plate. I have never seen it before. Lynn has a smile on her face and I can tell she is trying not to laugh at me.

I am about to have my first bite when a young man comes up to Lynn and I. His face is pierced in so many places I lose count and his hair is long, dark and greasy. As he looks me over I can see a coldness in his eyes that makes me look away.

"Aren't you going to introduce your friend Lynn?" he says.

"No," Lynn says.

"Why not Lynn? What's your name?" he says to me.

I have no idea what to say and before I can answer I hear a familiar voice. Tobias.

"What do you think you are doing Eric?" Tobias says.

"Nothing that concerns you Four," Eric says. He doesn't sound like he likes Tobias much.

"I think you're harassing dependants is my business," Tobias says. "Lynn take your trays and get Mason to put them into take away containers. Get me something to eat while you are there and meet us at the dining hall door."

"Come on you," Tobias says to me. "You are coming with me." He grabs my arm and drags me towards the door.

"What the hell Tris," Tobias hisses at me.

Lynn joins us and he says, "Follow me."

Lynn looks at me with a raised eyebrow and mouths the word 'sorry' to me. 'It's okay,' I mouth back to her. I haven't been taking any notice to where we are going but we are now in an elevator moving up towards I don't know where. I didn't even know that there was an elevator in Dauntless. There must be so many things hidden within the rocks and caves.

We step out of the elevator and go down some hallways until we are in a corridor with numbers on the doors. These must be apartments. Tobias must be taking us to his apartment. He puts his hand on a sensor and after a red light scans over his hand the door unlocks.

"Wow," says Lynn

I just look at her. "We just have a key with a lock on our door," she says.

We walk into Tobias apartment and as soon as he shuts the door I know I am going to be in trouble.

"What were you two thinking?" Tobias says with a raised voice. "Do you know how much trouble you could be in? You could have both been seen. Of all people to had seen you it had to be Eric."

"Four it's okay," Lynn says.

"No Lynn it's not. If you are caught both of you could be stopped from choosing Dauntless at your Choosing Ceremony," Tobias says.

"What?" Lynn and I both say at the same time.

"Yeah it could happen. The fact that your dad is on the council Tris would work against the both of you. What would you do then? How do you think Shauna would feel Lynn? Or Hector?"

"And you" Tobias says pointing to me. "What were you thinking? Do you have any idea how it would make me feel if you couldn't choose Dauntless? And damn you look hot in that outfit."

Lynn starts to laugh and all I can do is blush. I can't believe Tobias just told me I look hot in this outfit.

"What?" Tobias asks Lynn.

"Way to woo a girl Four," Lynn says. She is still laughing and has tears streaming down her face.

I look at Tobias and the anger has left him and he is smiling at me. He just shrugs and as usual I blush again. He walks over and gives me a hug and I can't stop myself from hugging him back. "It is really good to see you," he says.

"Let's eat this food before it gets cold. Then I will have to try and sneak you back out of here," he says shaking his head.

TOBIAS POV

I want to be angry with Tris right now but I can't. Although I would rather if Lynn wasn't here but if it wasn't for Lynn Tris wouldn't be here.

"So this is how the leaders live," says Lynn as she is looking around my apartment. I know that this place is a lot different from the apartment I first had when I got here. But I hadn't really thought much about it.

"Oh my goodness!" Tris exclaims. I look at Lynn and we can't help but laugh. Tris has just taken her first bite of Dauntless cake.

"Okay I am transferring here just for this," Tris says. "How am I supposed to go back to Abnegation now?"

"This is why you shouldn't be sneaking in here," Tobias says.

"Mum knows where I am," Tris says.

"Mum knows? And she let you?"

"Yes," she says.

"What about dad?" I ask.

"Do you think I would be here if he knew?"

"No, I don't," I say. "When you finish that I am going to have to make sure you get home."

"You're not going to tell dad are you?" I ask.

"How come you call her parents mum and dad?" Lynn asks me.

"It's complicated Lynn," I say.

"I get that. Why else would I ask?" she says.

"I stayed with Tris and her family when I was younger. I called her parents mum and dad," I say.

"That's not complicated Four," Lynn says.

"I don't even like people to know that I am from Abnegation," I say.

"Is that because of your dad?" Lynn asks. "Not Tris's dad but you know Marcus?"

"How did you know that?" I ask.

"Four if it wasn't for you liking Tris I would never have worked it out. How else would you two know each other if you both weren't from Abnegation? And you don't have to worry I won't be telling people," she says.

"Thanks Lynn. I would really appreciate it," I say.

* * *

Tris got home safe. I made Lynn come find me once she had got back. I don't know what I would have done if she had been caught and to run into Eric like that. Shit. It is only three months to her Choosing Ceremony, I just need to hope that Eric doesn't recognise her if she chooses Dauntless. I need to stop thinking like that. It's not if she chooses. I need to think about when she chooses.

Jeanine has started preparing to give our members their tracking serum. She wants to administer it the day Dauntless initiation finishes. I'm not sure about all of this but I'm not entirely sure where else to look.


	25. Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

TRIS POV

I'm lying on my stomach on my bed with my head in the pillow. I just want to cry. What am I going to do? I just got home from my aptitude test and have found out I'm Divergent. Which I really don't understand. The Dauntless lady, I think her name was Tori told me to stay in Abnegation that I will be safe here. I can't imagine my life without Tobias.

I know I have been thinking that I might stay in Abnegation but as soon as she told me I should stay in Abnegation I realised that I didn't want to. I want to be with Tobias. I need to be with Tobias. Tori told me not to tell anyone but I need to talk to mum.

I hear a knock at my door but I just ignore it. "Beatrice I know you are in there, please," says Caleb.

"Go away," I call back.

"I know something is wrong, talk to me," he says.

"When's mum getting home?" I ask him.

"She just got home. I'll go and get her for you," he says.

My mum doesn't knock she just walks into my room.

"Beatrice what's wrong?" she asks.

"Oh mum, I don't know what to do," I say and now the tears have started to fall.

"What was your test result?" she asks.

"Inconclusive," I say. "The woman told me that I have to stay in Abnegation. That it isn't safe for me to transfer. Mum I don't understand. Why can't I be with Tobias?"

"Oh honey. It's not that simple. Look if you want to transfer then you transfer. But you need to tell Tobias as soon as possible what happened with your test. He can protect you. But you cannot tell anyone else, it is very important that you don't say anything. There are people who think you are dangerous. But you're not, your mind just works differently. What did you test for?"

"Abnegation, Dauntless and Erudite," I say. If Tobias can protect me then I really would be better off in Dauntless, it's not like anyone in Abnegation could protect me if I was found out. They could try and hide me but I couldn't imagine them being able to do much else. At least if I go to Dauntless they will teach me how to protect myself, although Lynn has done a pretty good job at that. I'm glad I could talk to mum about this.

"Well if I think about it, it doesn't really surprise me. Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Let's go down stairs and see your dad and brother. I think this is the last night we are all going to be together so let's go and enjoy it," she says.

* * *

I am walking with Caleb and our parents toward the Choosing Ceremony. We all said our goodbyes last night. It was really sad but I'm glad we got to say our goodbyes. If we were a different family, we may not have had that chance.

"Are you sure about this?" I ask Caleb.

"Are you?"

"Yes," I say. "Did you tell Susan your leaving?"

"I couldn't. I didn't have the heart. I really like her and I could probably learn to love her but I don't want to have to learn to love someone. I just want it to happen," he says.

"Who knew Caleb Prior could be romantic," I say laughing.

"I wouldn't exactly call that romantic Beatrice," he says.

"I know but still you know what I mean," I say.

"Are you nervous?" he asks.

"About what?" I ask.

"Well you are about to see Tobias again," he says with a wink. I didn't even know my brother could wink.

"No and yes," I say. "Mainly no."

"Promise me that next year we will all meet at mum and dad's for visiting day. You, me and Tobias," he says.

"I promise," I say. We give each other a quick hug and go and find our places in line, ready to make the biggest decision of our lives.

TOBIAS POV

I'm standing on the train with Max on our way to the Choosing Ceremony.

"Caleb and Beatrice Prior are choosing today aren't they Four?"

"They are," I say.

"Do you think we will get either of them?"

"Beatrice yes. Caleb I'm not sure about," I say.

"Is that why you volunteered to come this year?"

"Yes," I say.

"Always a man of few words aren't you Four," he says.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Depends what you are going to ask me," he says with a chuckle.

"What's the rule when it comes to dating initiates?" I ask.

"I assume you are talking about you and Beatrice," he says.

I nod my head.

He starts to laugh. "Well other than the fact that most of the woman in Dauntless are going to be disappointed. There aren't any rules. Shit. No one is going to be happier than me that you finally will have your girl by your side. You think she'll do okay in initiation?"

"She won't have any problems. She found herself a personal trainer. I think she is going to shock a few people," I say.

"Who has been training her? Not you I hope."

"No not me. Lynn and Tris became friends during faction history and so Lynn decided to help her," I say.

"Bloody hell Lynn. If she is half as good as Lynn, those other transfers won't stand a chance. Make sure you tell her not to let them see how good she really is until the fights start. I think I might just have to come along and see for myself," he says.

"Time to jump," I say.

* * *

We walk into the Ceremony and sit with our faction. Dad is proceeding over the event this year. It is not going to look good if Tris and Caleb both transfer. It will give Erudite even more fuel to rubbish Abnegation. But I also know dad would rather his children be happy than for them to worry about what Erudite may say.

Being here brings back memories of when I was here last. It brings a smile to face when I think back to how devastated Marcus was when I transferred. I still wish I'd been back in Abnegation when mum had held a gun up at him.

They have started calling names now and it is a waiting game. I am so nervous; I have been constantly rubbing my hands on my pants. I just can't seem to get the sweat to go. Finally, Caleb's name is called. I wonder what he has decided to pick. Then I hear dad call out, "Erudite."

I see dad smile at Caleb and mouth the words 'I love you' to him. I am glad that he did that in front of the whole room. "Beatrice Prior," dad calls.

My mouth has gone dry; my hands continue to sweat as I watch Tris walk towards the bowls. I can tell she is nervous too. I know how much she loves mum and dad and that with Caleb and I both being transfers I'm sure there is a small part of her that would like to stay. I'm just hoping there is a larger part that wants to be with me.

It feels like she has been standing in front of those bowls for half the day. I see her look at dad and he nods his head. Then I hear the sizzle and dad calls out, "Dauntless."

"Yes," I call out. I watch as she starts walking towards the Dauntless section and towards me.

I let the other Dauntless members congratulate her and pat her on the back. Once they have calmed down I pull her to the side and just hug her. I need to know she is truly here, that she has picked Dauntless. I have never needed to feel someone this close to me ever before.

I release her and say, "Hi."

"Hi," she says.

"You had me worried for a minute when you were standing up there," I say.

"No I knew what I was going to do. I just needed a few minutes, you know," she says.

"Yeah I do. I am so glad you are here," I say.

"Me too. Tobias I need to talk to you about something. Mum told me to tell you what happened with my aptitude test," She says.

Oh no, I know exactly what she is talking about.

"It's okay. I will come and find you later. Go and sit with your friends. You will need to be with them to get to the compound. Okay?" I say.

"Yeah, I'll see you later," she says.

I watch her walk off and I wish she could stay here with me but she needs to go with the other initiates. It will be so much more exciting for her to experience with them. I watch as she walks over to where Uriah is sitting. He jumps up from his seat and they hug. I can't help but smile. It is really great that they are friends. Although I think Tris and Lynn together will be a force to be reckoned with.

* * *

I jump off the train and stand at the back of the group. I won't be jumping onto the net but I want to see who the first jumper is. Max is standing on the ledge, giving the same speech that is given every year. After the usual questions that are asked there is a silence, then I hear her. From where I am standing I can only just hear her. But I know who it is, Tris has volunteered to be the first.

I can't help but to have a smile on my face as I walk down the secret staircase from the roof. Tris was made for Dauntless. I just hope she can survive Eric.

I walk to my office after having some infirmary workers pick up the body of the initiate that didn't make the jump off the roof. It doesn't happen often and it usually isn't a Dauntless born but today it was. The worst part was that her parents came down. Now they are worried about how their other daughter Rita will cope with initiation.

I explain that I will discuss the matter with Lauren and we will look out for Rita. I also inform them that I will have to send them an official letter informing them of what has happened. I hate that I have to tell them this. But the shock of getting an official letter even though they know what has happened just makes a really tragic situation even worse.

I sit at my desk and turn on my computer. I need to get the official paperwork that would have been sent from the Choosing Ceremony to my computer. I didn't really take much notice of how many chose Dauntless. Zeke walks in my door while I am waiting for the computer to boot up.

"Hey man," He says. He can't seem to wipe the smile off his face. I know he is happy Uriah has stayed. "So celebrations are in order for both of us."

"Yeah they are Zeke."

"Man I'm happy for you. Hopefully once initiation is over we can finally have a double date," he says with a laugh.

"That sounds like a good idea," I say. Finally, I am in a position to want to agree to a double date with Zeke.

"Do you have the list of the initiates who made it to the compound?" I ask.

We never have all the initiates reach us. I already know we've lost one. There is usually a couple more that wouldn't have jumped either on or off the train. I will need to send their parents the official Dauntless letter stating that their child has failed Dauntless initiation and become factionless. I need to get these done as quickly as possible. There isn't much worse than a parent turning up on Visiting Day and finding their child isn't here.

Zeke hands me the list and then he sits in the chair opposite me.

"Four I need to talk to you about something," Zeke says. His voice is almost a whisper. I have an idea about what he is going to say.

"I trust you like a brother Four," he says. "you know that right?"

I nod.

"Four it's about Uriah," He says.

"Zeke you don't need to say anything else okay. I know what you are going to say and I don't need anyone else hearing what that is," I say and look up to the camera in the corner of the room.

Of course Zeke knows what I am talking about, he works in the control room. While I have a button that I can hit that will stop the recordings, it is not a button that Zeke knows about. I don't need to turn it on, I know he is going to tell me Uriah is divergent. So now I have two people I care about that I am going to have to find a way to help through stage two.

"I understand," he says. "Are you coming down for dinner?"

"Yeah I just need to get the 'sorry your kid didn't make it into Dauntless letters typed up and then I will be there," I say.

"Ew that would not be a letter I want to write," he says.

"It's okay, it is a standardised letter that I just need to put names into. It doesn't take long, depending on how many we have who didn't make it," I say.

"Did you see Rita?"

"Yeah, she is completely shattered that her sister didn't make it. I had to go and get things cleaned up. Their parents arrived, it was really horrible. I won't write that letter until tomorrow. I know Max will want to put his name to the letter, he gets really upset when it's one of our own," I say.

"Okay well I'll see you at dinner," Zeke says. Just as he is walking out the door he turns and says, "Thanks Four."

"No problem, I'll see you at dinner."

* * *

I walk into the dining hall and it is buzzing as it always does on Choosing Day. There is only one day that it is noisier and that is when the final rankings for initiation come out. I see Zeke and Shauna and I am glad to see them sitting with their brother and sister and Tris and some of the other transfers are with them.

"Hey first jumper," I say as I sit next to Tris and give her a one armed hug and a kiss on the top of her head.

"Thanks," she says.

"So who are your friends?" I ask.

Before she can answer Uriah jumps in. "So Four, this is Christina, Will, Edward and Myra," he says as he points to each person.

"Everyone this is Four. He is one of our leaders and one scary mother fu"

"URIAH," I yell before he can finish the sentence.

"Come on Four you know it's true," Uriah says.

"It's true Four," says Marlene.

"Seriously? I know I need to scare the initiates but do you have to put it like that?" I ask.

"Yeah we do," Zeke says.

I just shake my head.

"Have you never had a hamburger before?" Christina asks Tris.

"No I haven't," say Tris.

"Put this on it, it's ketchup," I say.

"Wow this is good," Tris says as she takes a bite. "Not as good as the cake, but close."

"How do you know about our cake?" Uriah asks.

"Oh well um Lynn gave me a piece once," she says. Everyone has turned and are looking at Lynn.

"What the hell happened to your hair?" Christina shrieks. I can't believe she only just noticed this.

"I cut it," Lynn says sarcastically.

"Obviously. Why?" Christina asks.

"For initiation," Lynn says, like it is the most obvious answer in the world.

"Why didn't you share the cake with all of us?" Christina asks.

"Well if you had tasted Abnegation food you would give her a piece of cake too," Lynn says.

"When did you try Abnegation food?" Will asks.

"Tris was helping me with some homework and her mother asked me to stay for dinner. It was like the worst thing I have ever tasted," Lynn says.

I can't help but laugh, I remember exactly what she is talking about. Although sometimes I do miss the simplicity of it. The look on Lynn's face is priceless.

"So are you two allowed to date while Tris is an initiate?" Shauna asks.

"There's no rule that says otherwise," I say. "But I think the quieter we are about it the better."

"Why be quiet about it?" Zeke asks.

"I don't need her ranking to come into question because of me," I say.

"You wouldn't do that," says Uriah.

"No I wouldn't but I don't want to give Eric fuel," I say. "We all know how cruel he can be. He is lucky to still have the job. If it was up to me he wouldn't but Graham was adamant that he should be able to keep the position. So if he doesn't behave this year I will be able to get rid of him."

"Pity you can't make him factionless," Shauna says.

"Are you guys talking about Eric who gave us the tour?" Christina says.

"Yes they are," says Marlene.

"Look there is nothing to worry about. Just do what is told of you and he will have no reason to harm anyone," I say.

"Harm anyone? Has he done that before?" Christina squeals. She has the most annoying voice.

"Christina drop it," I say. "Just work hard and you will be fine."

"Transfers," Eric bellows. "Time to see where you are sleeping, let's go."

"Four I really need to talk to you," Tris says. I don't like her calling me Four, it feels wrong. But I know why she has said it, there are too many people around.

"Tris it's okay. I am pretty sure I know what you need to tell me. It won't be a problem to stage two. We can talk tomorrow; you need to get a good night sleep."

I hate letting her go but I know I have too. At least she is here, finally.

* * *

 _I don't really like to have to write to many authors notes but here I am. Firstly I want to say thank you to every one who is reading this story. The followers, the people who have favourited this story, you guys are awesome. To everyone who has sent a review, thank you. It is great to know that people are willing to take the time to review. Secondly I just want to say to the guest reviewer who wanted to critique my wring style. I did put your review up but after getting some private messages from people who actually had the courtesy to log on and talk to me I decided to take the review down. I appreciate that everyone has their own point of view and not everyone will like every story or the way some one else writes, but I will not upset the people who have shown me wonderful support throughout my journey as a writer on this site. So to my supporters thank you, it makes me want to keep writing. To anyone who doesn't like my writing style that is okay too, I don't expect everyone to like how or what I write._


	26. Chapter 26

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

TOBIAS POV

I get back to my apartment and I don't know what to do with myself. I hate knowing that Tris is so close yet so far away. I know I can't just have her stay here but that's what I want. I clean the apartment and notice I still have a lot of nervous energy.

I decide to just go to my office and get some paperwork done. I won't have much time over the next ten weeks because the initiates are here and I will need to be watching what is going on with their training. I know I can trust Lauren with the Dauntless borns she is an excellent trainer, I wish I could trust Eric but I know I can't.

After two hours of paperwork I am completely caught up and find myself with nothing else to do. So I decide to check the dorms and make sure everyone is in bed. I check on the Dauntless borns first. Their dormitory is usually the one that keeps half the compound up at night through initiation, they like everyone to know how 'Dauntless they are'. But this year it seems that they are really quiet.

I walk in the dorm and find that they are all on their bunks. Thank goodness. I walk back out the door just glad that I don't have to start searching the compound. Rita was given the option of staying with her parents during initiation but she said she'd rather stay in the dorm. Home has so many memories and she thought it would be easier in the dorms. I have set up counselling sessions for her and I just hope she makes it into Dauntless.

I get to the transfers dormitory and I haven't even opened the door and I can hear someone crying. They aren't going to last long here; I think to myself. I walk in and all the transfers are in their bunks and again I am relieved. There is nothing worse than trying to find initiates at this time of night. I look to where Tris is sleeping and I can't help but to go over to her.

I sit on the floor next to her bed and I brush a strand of her hair of her face. I can't wait for these ten weeks to be over. Tris opens her eyes and it startles me a little. I wasn't expecting her to be awake. Although now she will probably think I'm a complete freak for just sitting watching her sleep.

"Hi," I whisper. I give her a half smile.

"Hi," she whispers back.

"Can't sleep?" I ask.

"No," she says.

"Want to go for a walk?"

"Sure," she says as she gets out of bed. She puts her shoes on and I grab her hand and pull her out of the dorm.

Once we are out of the dorm Tris asks, "where are we going?"

"A secret spot that not many people know about," I say.

I take Tris down the path that Zeke showed Shauna and I after our initiation had finished. I come down here often, usually just to think and to get away from the craziness that is Dauntless. The sound of the water is calming and the spray of the water as it hits the rocks is soothing after a long day of dealing with the workings of our faction.

But now I can finally share it with Tris. Which is something I've been dreaming about for the last two years. I sit on my favourite rock, it is relatively flat and the current isn't strong here, I dangle my feet over the edge and motion for Tris to sit down.

"How are you finding Dauntless so far?" I ask.

"I love it. But I'm sure that will change once I have to start training tomorrow," she says.

"You will be fine. Lynn told me that she has been training you for months now," I say.

"She has been so tough on me. There were days that I just wanted to give up but she made me keep going and I'm glad she did. She has become a really great friend," she says.

"I'm glad you've become friends. Plus, you have Uriah and Marlene," I say.

"Tobias I'm worried about what happened with my aptitude test," she says.

"What factions did you get?" I already know she is going to tell me that she is divergent.

"Abnegation, Dauntless," she says. "And Erudite."

"Three factions," I say. I know I sound shocked and I didn't mean to. It shouldn't surprise me, knowing Tris like I do I should have expected this but nobody has ever tested for three factions before.

"Yeah," she says. "I told mum, I kinda freaked out when I got home and wouldn't leave my room. But then she explained it to me. Tori, you probably know her, she administered my test and told me to stay in Abnegation. She said it wasn't safe here. But mum told me that I needed to tell you, she told me that you would keep me safe."

"I will always keep you safe Tris," I say. "Always."

I move closer to Tris and I stare into her eyes. I can't help it but my eyes move to her lips. I really want to kiss her right now. But I'm frightened that she won't want me the way I want her. I know people were talking to us about us dating but we've never really talked about it.

I look back into her eyes and I know that if I don't do this now I may never have the courage. I lean in close and slowly brush my lips against hers. Oh god her lips are so soft. I hear a sigh come from her lips and I think I'm doing this correctly.

I pull away and see that Tris has a smile on her face. I reach out and touch her cheek with my hand just brushing my thumb over her soft skin. Then Tris moves closer and we are kissing again. More certain this time. Feeling more confident I wrap my arm around her and pull her as close to me as I can. I feel her wrap an arm around my neck and I can feel her fingers in my hair. Without breaking the kiss, I pull her onto my lap and with more confidence now we continue to kiss.

We finally break apart and I know that I have a ridiculous grin on my face. I can't help but smile, I have wanted to kiss her for so long. I can't help myself I reach over and kiss her again, not wanting this moment to end.

* * *

"About time you got here," Eric calls out to me as I walk into the training room.

I look at my watch and see that it is only ten to eight. What the hell is he complaining about? I'm actually early.

"I'm early," I say.

"Whatever," he says. He is already in a foul mood and the first day of training hasn't even started yet.

"Did you wake them up?" I ask.

"Yep, should have seen them. I thought they were all going to have heart attacks," he says.

"Zeke, Shauna and Marty will be along about nine to help you out with the assessments," I say.

"Bringing your friends along so that I don't cheat, is that it Four?"

"I thought Marty was a friend of yours?"

"He is," he says.

"Well then what's the problem? I may think a lot of things about you Eric, but, I would never think of you as a cheat," I say. Asshole is one word I am thinking about him at the moment.

"So you don't think I will try to fail your little girlfriend?" He asks. So this is what this is about.

"The thought hadn't crossed my mind," I say. Which is true.

"Okay, well I suppose we will see how she goes then," he says. If only he knew. Wait till he sees what she is capable of.

"You know this first week is only about their fitness levels. I'm sure she can survive any assessments you give her," I say.

Eric is about to say something else when we hear the door to the training room open. In walks the nine initiates all looking like they wish they had gotten more sleep.

"Good to see you are all on time," I say. "Don't think that Eric will be giving you a wakeup call every morning. Because he won't be. Training is from eight to six and you will be given a lunch break. Make sure you are on time or there will be consequences."

"For the next ten weeks you will be going through our initiation. There are three stages of initiation. Each is intended to prepare you in a different way. The first stage is primarily physical: the second, primarily emotional and the third, primarily mental," I say.

"You will be ranked throughout your training. So work hard. Only the top five initiates will have the opportunity to choose a job. The bottom five initiates will be guarding the fence. Whoever is ranked outside the top five but in front of the bottom five will be given an interview and we will give you two options to choose from for a job."

"If you don't work hard your ranking will fall and if it that happens you can get cut. If you don't show improvement, then you can get cut. We protect this city and you need to be able to do that if you want to become a member. If not, you will become factionless."

"Every stage of training is hard work. Eric and his team will be assessing you every day. Leaders will be watching as well. Just because you don't see us in the room with you, know that there are cameras all over the training room so that we can watch you. In stage one we are measuring your physical ability but remember we are also looking at your attitudes as well."

"Respect yourself, respect your fellow initiates and most of all respect your trainers. Your trainers are here for a reason, if you become a member you won't be able to go running to them whenever you have a problem. If you have questions, then ask your trainer. If you are having difficulty with a part of training, talk to your trainer. They are here to help you, so use them," I say.

"Here in Dauntless we respect improvement, it shows that you are working hard, we also respect team work. If you are on a mission, you need to be able to trust the people with you and they need to be able to trust you. But we will not hold your hands for you," I say.

"If you are failing," I say. "then work harder!" I shout.

"Any questions?"

"Can we use the training rooms after hours?" Will asks. Good question I think.

"Yes. But remember after six the rooms are open to all Dauntless members. Members have priority on all equipment and you need to respect them.

"Is it true you're dating the stiff?" Peter asks. Can I just punch him now; I think?

"Firstly her name is Tris," I say trying to stay calm. "Secondly that is not respecting a fellow initiate by calling them stiff. You are all Dauntless now, act like it or go live with the factionless. Thirdly, it is none of your business who Tris or any other initiate is dating. Neither is it your business who your leaders are dating," I say.

"And finally, Eric is in charge of the initiates scores and Eric doesn't give a shit who Tris is dating. He is here to train you to be the best that you can be. So Peter stop worrying about others and concentrate on yourself," I say.

"Peter I think we can dock you a few points for the comments you have made. Maybe it will teach you to listen to what your leaders are saying," Eric says. Which surprises me but only a little. He is trying to show his dominance over the group and by the look on Peter's face it is working.

"I'll leave you with them. Looks like it is going to be fun," I say.

"I somehow doubt that. Just what I need a Candor smart mouth. Maybe I should send them on their five kilometre run first," he says.

I look over to Tris as I am walking out of the room. I don't want to draw any more attention to her so I think it would be better to just acknowledge her rather than say goodbye to her.

When I get to the door I shout, "Work hard, we will be watching you." And then I leave. Better go over to the Dauntless borns and give them the same speech. I want to see how Rita is too, I couldn't imagine what she is going through. Max had the funeral last night. He wanted to get it over as quickly as possible so that it didn't interfere with initiation, I think also he didn't want it to linger for a few days because dependants dying always upsets him so much. I don't know why it affects him more than others and I don't feel it would be appropriate to ask him. Just one of the many things I may never get the answer too.

 **TRIS POV**

I walk into the dining hall after training and I walk straight over to Lynn and give her a hug and whisper in her ear, "thank you for all your help, I wouldn't have survived today if it wasn't for you."

"Should I be jealous?" Tobias asks but I can see a smile on his face. Lynn just laughs at him.

"No," I say as I sit next to him.

I look across the table and I see Christina looking at me with a strange look on her face. I have no idea what that look means. I am absolutely famished but need to go and get myself some dinner. I am exhausted so I just start stealing food off Tobias's plate.

"Do you want me to go and get you something?" Tobias asks.

"No, I will get up in a minute and get something," I say as I take more food off his plate.

Tobias gets up and for a moment I think he might be angry and is going to walk out. But instead he walks over and gets me something to eat.

"Shit Four," Zeke says. "You are already whipped."

"I am not," Tobias says. "I'm just hungry and if I don't get her something she is going to eat all my food."

"Typical," Lynn says. "Men always thinking of their stomachs." We all laugh at this and continue to eat.

"Will and I have an announcement," says Christina. "Well we just wanted to tell everyone that we are now a couple."

Without looking up from her plate Lynn says, "haven't you been dating since we were in school?"

"Sort of," Christina says. "But now we are in Dauntless it's official."

"Okay then," Lynn says. She sounds really bored.

I don't think it is the response that Christina wanted. It feels like she was hoping to have more attention given to her news but everyone has just gone back to the conversations they were having before she interrupted.

"So what plans do you have for tonight?" Tobias asks.

"Well I was hoping to go and get my first tattoo. I was going to see if any of the others wanted to go with me. Do you want to come?"

"I can't I have a meeting tonight. I will try and come and see you later but it may finish to late," Tobias says.

I suppose I am going to have to get used to not having Tobias around all the time. He has a lot he has to do as a leader and I suppose once I become a member I will have responsibilities as well.

"I'll go with you to get a tattoo," Lynn says. She knows that I have been hanging for the day I could actually get a tattoo.

"I want to get a tattoo too," says Christina. "Will do you want to come with us?"

"Sure, why not?" Will answers.

"Marlene are you coming to get tattoos?" Lynn asks.

"Sounds like a great idea, I'm in," Marlene says.

This is great. I am loving being in Dauntless so far. I know I have made the right choice.

"I have to go," Tobias says. He gives me a quick kiss on the lips, I love that we are kissing now. "See you all later." And he leaves the dining hall.

We don't stay much longer and Lynn, Christina, Will, Marlene and I head out towards the tattoo parlour.


	27. Chapter 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

TRIS POV

"Ok initiates we have been giving you the chance to get a little fitness up before we would give you your assessments. These assessments will be given to you again in week eight of training. So just because we won't be working solely on your fitness in training doesn't mean you shouldn't be working on it in your own time," Eric says.

I hear a collective grown from a few initiates, but I am not one of them. Yes, I am completely exhausted but I am loving this. While I could only train a few days a week with Lynn when I was in Abnegation I love that now I have the freedom to do it all the time.

"So you will all be called up individually and we will be testing your abilities in a number of areas. After that you will have a timed five kilometre run. Here is a sheet with what you will be assessed on," Eric says as he passes sheets around to each initiate.

I look at the sheet and see that they will be assessing our height and weight. Well that's easy, short and skinny. Resting heart rate, well that should be fine as long as Tobias isn't in the room. My heart rate goes up every time I see him. Blood pressure, whatever that is I don't know. Body composition, I wonder what that will involve. Then we have sit up, push up, step and sit and reach tests to complete.

They are being really thorough about our fitness. I was talking to Myra at breakfast and she was telling me that she was dreading the fights but hoped that because the assessment for our fitness was to look at our improvement not compare us to others that she may have the chance to improve her ranking this way. I hope so, I really like Myra she is quiet like me and doesn't seem to like the attention to be focused on her. Plus, I know her main reason for coming here was because Edward wanted to be Dauntless.

It takes them almost the whole day to finish with our assessments. I have no idea how I went but Eric was asking me some strange questions while he did my assessment. I'd really hoped I would get Shauna or maybe Zeke. But Eric said that the only way that it can look impartial was if he did my assessment. I don't know about that.

Tobias told me to be careful around Eric, that he can't be trusted. I just hope that he will be fair when it comes to my assessment.

Once we were finished with our run we were dismissed for the day. As I always am starving after training I went directly to the dining hall. I get some dinner because Tobias isn't here yet to steal food of his plate and as I reach our usual table I see Marlene, Lynn and Uriah sitting with another girl. She seems familiar but I just can't seem to think why.

"Hey Tris, this is Rita," Uriah says. Rita, mmm where have I heard that name before. Then I remember Rita was the girl whose sister didn't make it.

She must realise that I remember where I know her from and she says, "Yeah I'm the one who lost her sister."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to . . ." I don't even know how to finish my sentence.

"It's okay. Well it sort of isn't but I know what you mean," she says.

"So Rita is going to be hanging with us. Her _'friends'_ haven't exactly been nice about how Rita is feeling," Lynn says. "So screw them. If she can stand our crazy group, then I say the more the merrier."

"Do you mean that?" I look up to see Al standing in front of our table. "Because I really don't have anyone to sit with and you all seem to be having fun all the time."

All I think is that he seems kind of pathetic standing there admitting he has no friends. I can see Lynn has the same sort of expression as I do. But I do feel sorry for the guy.

"Why not?" says Uriah. "As Lynn says 'the more the merrier', although we may need a bigger table."

"So how are you finding training Rita?" I ask.

"It's good. Hard work but really glad we got Lauren as our trainer and not Eric. I would have hated to have Eric," she says.

"Is he really that bad?" I ask. "He has been okay in training so far."

"It's only the first week. Just wait until it gets further along. He was really pissed when Four extended training. See initiation used to only be two weeks but Four felt that the initiates needed longer and had the programme changed. Eric had already agreed to train the initiates and so he couldn't back out without looking bad," says Uriah.

"And he doesn't want to look bad in front of Max because he is desperate to become a leader. He and Four competed for months to become leader and Eric was more than pissed when Four was given the position. Although I think everyone else in the faction was happier that Four got it,"

I guess I am going to really have to watch myself in front of Eric. If he hates Tobias, then he is probably going to hate me too. Although he has been nice to me so far.

TOBIAS POV

"Can you please explain to me why your _Stiff_ girlfriend is one of the fittest in our group of initiates Four?" Eric says as he walks into my office.

"I don't think you need to use such terms when you are speaking about Tris," Max says from the corner of the room.

I see Eric's eyes nearly bulge out of his head. He couldn't see Max when he came in because he had his head stuck in my filing cabinet, looking for some file he has lost. Which isn't unusual for Max. I swear he needs his own personal assistant; he is always filing things in the wrong place so that it isn't on his desk. Not that you can see his desk for all that he has on it.

"I mean to say," Eric says but Max cuts him off.

"We heard what you said Eric, no use back pedalling now," Max says. If only I could laugh right now I would.

"Now what's the problem with Tris?" Max asks Eric.

"How does someone from Abnegation become so fit?" he asks.

"Well Eric if I remember correctly you were beaten out of first place by an Abnegation transfer. So I don't understand how this can come as a shock to you," Max says.

I see Eric grimace at the reminder that I beat him in initiation.

"I would just hope that Four here hasn't been training her, that is all," Eric says. He is really digging himself a hole here in front of Max. You think that him coming from Erudite he would be a little smarter than he is being right now. I suppose there was more than one reason that he left Erudite.

"Eric are you accusing Four of training Tris? Be very careful how you answer this question Eric. Accusing a leader of an act of treason could cause you a lot of problems," Max says.

"No of course not Max. I was just curious to know how she could be so fit," Eric says.

"Eric," I say. "Abnegation members do a lot for our community and what most people don't realise is that most of the time it involves a lot of manual labour. So I would have to assume that Tris took her volunteering very seriously and from that she must have gotten fit." There is no way that I am going to tell Eric about Lynn, he is sure to find out when the fights start but for now I want to keep him wondering.

"Anything else you need Eric because we are extremely busy," says Max. If only he knew we had just been talking about leaving to go to dinner. Max can be so rude to Eric sometimes, not that I'm complaining. Most of the time he deserves it.

"No that's all," Eric says and he walks out the room.

"Well that was a good excuse you came up with Four," Max says. "But what are you going to tell him when the fights start?"

"The truth," I say. "There aren't any rules that state a dependant can't help a dependant from another faction, so he will just have to deal with it."

"Can't wait to see his face when the fights start," Max says. "I love whenever we can piss that bastard off. I can't stand him and he has been sucking up to me for the last year hoping that there will be another chance for him to become leader. It won't be happening while I'm a leader that is for sure. I am sure he is working with Jeanine Matthews but I haven't been able to catch him communicating with her. I'm sure he will slip up one of these days."

"Well Max I would love to stay and chat but I think I'm going to go and get some dinner," I say.

"Good idea, I will walk down with you," he says.

* * *

I put my tray of food on the table and sit down next to Tris. I see that Rita has joined our table, I think that's a good thing. She will have little time to think about her sister with this group keeping her busy. Although I don't know if she will ever get a word in with this lot.

"I hear you did well on your fitness assessment," I say to Tris.

"I did?"

"How come she gets to know how she went?" Christina shrieks from across the table. I swear she is getting bitchier by the day.

"Christina the fitness assessment is a personal test; you are fighting against yourself. The better you go now the harder it will be to improve when you are re-tested," I say.

"Oh," she says. She is always trying to get in the middle of my conversations with Tris. It happens every meal time. I would think she was jealous of Tris if she didn't have her own boyfriend. I don't know how Will puts up with her.

"Do you have any plans tonight?" I ask Tris.

"No we hadn't planned anything," she says.

"Good. Do you want to meet at our spot," I say. I know she knows where I'm talking about.

"That would be nice," she says blushing.

"I love when I can make you blush," I whisper in her ear and she blushes even more and I can't help but laugh.

"I just need to talk to Lynn after dinner and then I will meet you there," I say.

She just nods. I think she has also noticed how much attention Christina pays us whenever we are in the dining hall.

"I was thinking of getting a piercing Tris," Christina says. "Do you want to come with me Tris?"

"No thanks Christina," Tris says. "I have plans."

"Oh okay," Christina sounds disappointed as she says this. "I think you would look really good with pierced ears."

"Better to keep piercings to after stage one Christina," I say. "You don't want your opponent to rip them out."

"People do that?" she sounds shocked.

"Of course they do," says Lynn. "You do whatever it takes to win a fight."

"That sounds a bit brutal," Christina says.

"Do you think if you are trying to arrest someone that they will care. The factionless are a lot more brutal than anyone you will find in Dauntless and they will do anything to get away," I say. "I don't think you realise just what is involved with being Dauntless Christina."

"Just wait for the fights to start," Lynn says. "You will be black and blue the whole time. Just wait until you have to go against someone who doesn't like you. Then you will know what we are talking about."

"I'll go with you Christina," Al says. I think his names Al. When did he join our table?

"Okay that would be great Al. You're coming to aren't you Will?"

"Of course I am," says Will.

"Well let's go then," Christina says as she drags Will out of his seat. Poor bastard and Zeke thinks I'm whipped.

"Well I am out of here," says Lynn. "I'm going to try and get some training in before all the members take all the best equipment in the gym."

"Lynn can I have a word," I say. I get up from my seat, I don't need the wrong person hearing our conversation.

"What's up Four," she says as she follows me out of the dining hall.

We reach the Pit and I turn and give her a key. "What's this for?" she asks.

"Training room five. It hasn't been used in a while. I thought you and Tris and some of your friends might want to use it," I say.

"Thanks Four. I think this will help all of us," she says.

"Just don't tell anyone that you got the key from me," I say.

"You know you seem a lot happier since Tris arrived," Lynn says.

"I am."

As Lynn walks off I say, "thanks for helping her Lynn."

"You did the same for Shauna. I think it is a good trade off."

"Yeah it is. Night Lynn."

"See ya Four."

* * *

I am walking down to the chasm when I realise that I left my cake on the table. I hadn't had a chance to eat it and then went and talked to Lynn. Damn.

"Hey,' I hear Tris before I see her.

"Hey to you too," I say.

"You forgot to come back and eat your cake," she says.

"Can you read my mind? I was thinking of that as I was walking down here," I say.

"Well you are lucky that you have an awesome girlfriend," she says.

"Really? And why would I think that?"

"Because I saved your cake from Uriah and I just happened to bring it with me," she says. She pulls the cake out from next to her.

"Okay, I agree I do have an awesome girlfriend," I say. "Just the fact you kept it from Uriah is a miracle in itself."

"Well if it had been mine I probably wouldn't have gotten away with it but when I said that it was yours and that I would send you after him he quickly gave up the cake," she says.

"Do you want some?" I ask.

"No you have it. I already had a piece."

"I don't mind sharing," I say.

"Maybe just a little bit then," she says.

"Have you noticed Christina?" I ask as she shares more than just a little bit of my cake.

"How do you mean?"

"I don't know, she seems to be getting bitchier," I say.

"Yeah, Lynn said something similar to me at lunch," she says. "It's probably just the stress of training. She hasn't been coping very well with the workouts Eric is giving us. And Eric seems to take pleasure in pushing us harder, if he thinks someone is about to collapse from exhaustion then he makes us do extra. Drew fell over during our run yesterday and he made everyone run an extra two kilometres."

"Maybe," I say. But I'm not sure that is the reason.

"Did you get a tattoo last night?"

"I did. Do you want to see?"

I nod my head. Tris pulls the neck of her t shirt across and there she has three birds on her collarbone.

"Nice. Why the birds?"

"Well they are ravens and I got one for each member of my family that I left behind," she says. "But I also got another one."

"You did?"

She pulls her top further down and I see another raven covering her heart. It is just a little bit bigger than the other three.

"Do you know what this one represents?" she asks.

"No," I say.

"You," she says.

"Me?"

"Yeah because you will always be my family and you stole my heart," she says.

I don't have a response for that. Wow I can't believe that she would do that for me. So the only way I know how to show her how much that means is to bend down and to kiss her. It's not like the sweet soft kisses we shared her first night in Dauntless. This one is full of so much more. This times there are tongues involved and I didn't even realise that I had pull her to me.

We break apart and I need a minute to catch my breath, I feel like I have just run the seven kilometres that Tris had run today in training.

"Does that mean you like it?" she asks.

"Yeah, I do. I really do. I can't believe you would do that for me."

"Why? Tobias you do know how much you mean to me don't you?"

"Tris I remember when I first came to live with you and I was talking to mum. I remember saying to her that I didn't think I would ever find someone to be with. And she told me that I would but I still can't believe that you want me," I say.

"Tobias why do you feel that way?"

"Because my own parents didn't even love me. How can I expect anyone else too? Especially someone like you. I'm just so broken."

Tris moves over and straddles my legs. "Tobias I feel like the luckiest girl in the world that you want me. I love you. I have always loved you, you are my best friend and you are not broken. Marcus and Evelyn didn't deserve you. Mum, dad and Caleb they all love you too. Plus, our friends love you. Tobias I'm sorry that you feel this way," Tris says.

"I know that I have a lot of people that care about me. But there are just times when I think of Marcus and what he did and the I think of how Evelyn just left me there and I just feel like nothing," I say.

"Well every time you feel that way I want you to think of me. Always remember I love you," she says.

"I love you too Tris. More than you could ever imagine," I say. Then I kiss her.


	28. Chapter 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

TRIS POV

"Today is the start of gun and knife training. Both are weapons that you will need to be proficient in to pass initiation. So listen very carefully I will not be repeating myself," says Eric.

"Your gun training will consist of gun care; you will be expected to be able to dismantle and put the guns back together. You will also need to know how to clean your gun, the maintenance of your weapons are very important. These weapons are here to protect you, if you don't treat them with respect they might not work properly when you need them too," Eric says. It almost sounds like he is talking about a person. I'm so glad that mum used to let me clean her gun for her. I wish she'd let me practice shooting with it but she wouldn't.

"You will be learning about and shooting a variety of guns over the next week. Although you will not get the chance to fire your weapons until you can dismantle and put your gun back together. So watch carefully," he says.

We are starting with hand guns and I can't help but smile as I watch Eric dismantle the gun and name all the different components to us. Then he puts the pieces back together. It is amazing how a dismantled the looks like random pieces of metal, they don't mean much at all but once the pieces are assembled they become a device that can kill you instantly.

Once Eric has finished showing us what to do he tells us to pick up a gun and show him what we just learned. I see Edward smiling, from what he has been telling me, he has been studying this subject for a while now. He used to love reading the books in the library about the different weapons and how they are used. I think he will be first to get the opportunity to fire his weapon.

I take the gun and move to the end of the table away from the others, I don't want to have to listen as people try to guess where the parts go. I quickly dismantle the gun and then re-assemble it just as quickly. Eric walks over to me and says, "do that again."

There is no use trying to argue with Eric so I do it all over again. "How do you know what to do?" he asks.

"My mum," I say. I'd rather not talk to him and I find it easier to just give short answers to him.

"Your mum?"

"She transferred from Dauntless. She has a gun at home," I say.

"You didn't grow up in a normal Abnegation home did you?"

I just shake my head. I really wish he would just walk away.

"Edward," Eric calls. I look over to see that Edward is the only other person who has put his gun back together. I can see Peter has only just dismantled his gun. "Come over here."

Edward walks over to where I am sitting. "Seeing you two are the only two finished I may as well teach you how to shoot," Eric says. "Or did your mum teach you that as well?" Eric looks at me as he says it, I just shake my head no.

"Now watch what I do and then you can have a turn," Eric says. I watch Eric as he gets into his stance to fire the gun. He stands facing the target, he stands with his feet apart holding the gun in both his hands and then he fires.

I her a yelp coming from where we were assembling our guns and see that Christina has dropped her gun and because she hadn't finished putting it together the pieces have dropped all over the place. I can't believe how loud that was. I wasn't expecting it to hurt my ears.

"Some warning would have been nice," Christina grumbles as she crawls on the floor to pick up the pieces of her gun.

I look back at the target and see that Eric has hit just inside the middle ring. Being an instructor I thought he would have made a perfect shot.

"Your turn," Eric says to Edward and I.

"Why are they getting to shoot before we do?" Peter asks.

"Why should they wait for you to finish Peter? As soon as you can put the gun back together you can shoot too," Eric says.

"Now don't forget there will be a recoil, so be ready for it," Eric says.

I try to remember the way Eric was standing as I face the target. Edward is quick to start shooting and the noise puts me off. I start again, it feels strange, holding a weapon that is able to kill. I didn't think I would feel this way. I never noticed before but holding the gun out in front of me, it now feels heavy and cold in my hands.

I am just about to take my first shot when I feel Eric behind me. He is so close I can feel his body heat and it makes me feel really uncomfortable. "You need to move your legs apart a little more. Like this," he says. He moves my foot with his foot. "Now bend your knees slightly, it will help with the recoil."

I bend my knees slightly and I am hoping that now he will move away, but he doesn't. He leans over my body and puts both his arms around me and says, "now, lift your arms just a little higher." He is holding my wrists with his hands and moving them to where he wants them. "Now I want you to breath in, aim, breath out and then shoot."

I take my first shot and I feel my hands want to move back but Eric is holding them in place and with the position he is in I fall back onto him from the recoil. I am sure the whole room is watching and I feel completely embarrassed and I just wish Eric would let me go.

Once I am back standing Eric lets go of my arms and says, "now try by yourself. Your first shot wasn't too bad. Just remember to keep your eyes open this time."

I look over to the target and see that I have hit the target but I am nowhere near the rings in the centre. I look over and see that Edward's last four shots have all hit the centre of the target.

Thankfully Will, Peter and Drew have finished putting their guns together and Eric has gone to demonstrate to them how to shoot. So now I am left to try to shoot by myself. I know what to expect now and I start shooting. While I am definitely not the best shooter here, by the end of the day I am not the worst either.

* * *

"How did you go with the guns?" Lynn asks as we sit in the dining hall eating lunch.

"It was great for Tris, she got one on one training with Eric," Christina says.

"I wouldn't call it great," I say.

"What did he do Tris?" Tobias asks.

Before I can answer Christina is telling the whole table about how Eric helped me fire my first shot. I thought it was awkward when it was happening but the way Christina is telling the story it sounds even worse.

"You need to watch yourself around Eric, he is bad news Tris," Tobias says.

"She looked like she was enjoying all the attention," Christina says.

"Maybe if you could have put your gun together Christina you would have got the one on one training," I say. I am really angry with Christina right now. Trying to make out that I enjoyed having Eric so close and in front of everyone.

I seem to have lost my appetite so I just get up and walk away from the table. I need to get away from everyone.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Tobias asks. He has followed me out of the dining hall and we are standing in the Pit.

"I didn't enjoy having Eric touching me, even if it was just to help me. I hate that Christina made it seem like I enjoyed it. I didn't," I say.

"I know," Tobias says.

"You do?"

"I don't think anyone would like to have him that close. Christina is just jealous. She likes the attention to be on her. She is always answering questions that are for someone else. She likes to tell the story," Tobias says.

"Maybe, it's just she almost made it sound sexual and well it wasn't."

Tobias pulls me to him into a hug. I needed to feel him this close. After having Eric so close it feels good to be in Tobias's arms. I wrap my arms around his waist and we just stand there.

* * *

It is day three of knife throwing. It has got to the point where I am really bored. I can hit the target with great accuracy, which I can thank Lynn for later. We used to go and practice on the old oak tree in the meadow when I was in Abnegation.

Thankfully I didn't need Eric to help me. Although every time we get a different type of gun to use he comes over and tries to give me advice. I don't understand why he keeps trying to help me. It's common knowledge that he hates Tobias so I don't know what his motive is for helping me. It is making training uncomfortable.

It doesn't help that Christina is happy to make smart comments about it every meal time and now Tobias has been watching the training sessions from the control room. Zeke told me that his boss Gus has even set up a special viewing area just for Tobias, so that he can watch what is going on in training. Not only that he has Gus record the sessions that he isn't there for.

It is almost dinner time and I can't wait to be out of here. It will be good to know that I won't have to throw knives for hours at a time once this session is finished. We will just have some time to practice before our final assessment in a few week's time. I can get some more practice in with Lynn and Uriah after hours, now that we have our own training room to use.

Uriah, Lynn and Marlene have been using training room five every night. I have joined them along with Edward and Myra. It has been a lot of fun. We probably muck around more than we train but still I am enjoying it. I love having the friends I do. Christina and Will never come with us, they are always running off to try and have time by themselves. Rita has joined us a few times but she has been seeing someone to deal with the death of her sister. It is nice that when she does come she had been having some fun and laughing too. I couldn't imagine loosing Caleb like that.

We've never invited Al to the training room. I know he is with Christina and Will a lot because Christina is always whining that she wants more 'alone time' with Will. She hasn't been doing that well in training but she doesn't seem to care, she just wants to be with Will. Al hasn't really fitted into the group, he never joins the conversation at dinner, he doesn't seem comfortable at all. And it's not just at dinner, he had been having trouble with training as well. He can't throw a knife that is for sure.

We have just over an hour to go when we all stop when we hear Eric yelling at Al.

"What is wrong with you," Eric shouts. "You have been at this for three fucking days and you still haven't hit the target."

"Did I say stop throwing? Get back to work," Eric screams at the rest of us.

"Now I want you to go and get your knives and start again," Eric says. His voice is much softer now and it scares me more than when he yells. I would hate to think how Al is feeling right now.

"While they are all throwing?" Al asks. You can hear the fear in his voice.

"Yes," Eric says.

"But I don't want to get hit," Al says.

"If you haven't noticed all your fellow initiates can actually hit the target," Eric says. "So I am sure that you will be able to walk over there and they won't hit you."

"No," says Al. Sounding a little less fearful.

"Excuse me?" says Eric. Oh dear this does not look good.

"There isn't an option here, you need to go and get your knives," Eric says.

"But . . .," Al says.

"But? Are you afraid?"

"Yes," Al whispers. It's not just fear in his voice anymore he sounds ashamed.

"Everyone stop!" Eric shouts. "You." He points to Al. "Go stand in front of the target."

I watch as Al slowly makes his way over to the target with his head down. If he went any slower he would be at a stop.

"You are going to stand there while I throw these knives at you. If you flinch I will fail you, not only in knife throwing but everything else as well. Do you understand?" Eric says.

Al just nods his head. I can't believe that Eric is trying to make Al factionless.

Eric is about to throw the first knife and I know that Al isn't going to be able to not flinch. If he is going to fail it should be on his ability not for Eric's entertainment.

"Wait," I call out. Every head has turned my way. "Anyone can stand in front of a target. It doesn't prove anything except that you are bullying him. Which as I recall, is a sign of cowardice."

"If that is the case then you can stand in front of the target. Take his place," Eric says.

TOBIAS POV

"You are going to want to see this," Zeke calls out to me from across the room. I have just walked into the control room to check on how training is going. I don't like to go into the room if I don't have too, I only get distracted with Tris being there.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Eric is about to lose it. He is about to throw knives at that Al kid," Zeke says.

I look up at the monitor and I can see that Al is slowly walking towards the target. Eric did the same thing last year. I told him I didn't want to see this happen again. "Crap," I say as I run out of the control room hoping I can get to the training room before Eric inflicts any damage on Al.

Eric isn't the best at knife throwing and you can't trust that he is going to miss. I burst through the training room doors and see that Al isn't in front of the target anymore, Tris is. What the hell did she do while I was on my way here.

"What do you think you are doing?" I ask Eric.

"Tris here, volunteered to take Al's place," Eric says. You would think he was talking about the weather he is speaking so casually about this.

"Okay, training is over for the day, get out," I say to the initiates. "Beatrice can you wait outside for me?"

She gives me a questioning look but I turn away. The longer I stand here the angrier I am getting with her. Why would she stand up for Al? It's not like they are close. I've told her to be careful around Eric.

"Go," I say to her when I have turned around and see that she is still standing there.

She puts her knives on the table and walks out of the room. Once the door is shut I turn back to Eric. "What were you thinking? I have told you before that you can't throw knives at initiates," I yell.

"You only came in because it was the stiff," Eric yells back.

"I was in the control room, when I left Al was in front of the target. By the time I got here Tris was in front of the target. I was coming down here because of Al. It wouldn't matter which initiate it was I would still be here," I say. I'm not yelling now, it won't do any good yelling at Eric, he probably isn't listening anyway.

"He needed to learn. We have had three days of knife training and he still hasn't hit the target," Eric says.

"So when the assessment comes round you fail him," I say. "It's not hard Eric. If I see you do something like this again and I will have you fired. Do you understand me?"

"You can try Four. But it won't work, you're not the only leader. All five leaders have to agree and you know that not all of them will take your side," Eric says.

"Just try me Eric. This isn't about me, it's about your inability to train our initiates properly. Why couldn't Al throw a knife after three days of training? I think you need to start looking at yourself instead of blaming some kid who hasn't been trained properly," I say.

I don't actually believe what I just said to Eric. He is a good trainer and it probably is Al's own fault that he can't throw a knife but I'm not going to let Eric know this. He needs to learn some self-control if he wants to keep this job.

"Fuck you Four," Eric yells and storms out of the training room. I can't help but smile, the guy is such an asshole. Hopefully he has learned his lesson this time.

I walk out of the training room and Tris is standing by the door.

"What were you thinking?" I say.

"I wasn't. Eric said that he would fail Al, not only in knife throwing but everything if he flinched. I knew Al wouldn't cope so I said something to Eric and he made me stand in front of the target," she says.

"Eric can't just fail someone Tris," I say. "The leaders take failure very seriously here. We would review all his training sessions before we would fail anyone. No one wants to see an initiate factionless."

"Oh," she says.

"I warned you that you need to be careful around Eric. You need to start listening to what I tell you. You have a lot more at stake here than the others," I say, thinking of her being divergent and how I am going to get her through stage two without Eric finding out.

Tris grabs hold of my hand and I look her in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she says.

"I know. I just need you to be more careful. You already have Eric's attention just be careful," I say as I pull her into a hug. "I couldn't stand it if something happened to you."


	29. Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

TRIS POV

"I'm so glad that I have been able to train with you guys at night," Myra says. "I don't know how I am going to go in the fights. This week has been so intense with all the fighting techniques we are learning."

"Just do the best you can Myra, that's all any of us can do," I say.

"Why do you act weak in training Tris?" Myra asks. "I've seen you training with Lynn and you are almost as good as her. Why hide that?"

"I don't want Eric to know. Plus, if I have to fight someone like Peter or Drew, I want to be able to surprise them. Peter is always teasing me about being from Abnegation. I know it was him who carved the word 'stiff' into my bedframe and ruined my sheets. But I can't prove it, so if I can surprise him in a fight I may be able to beat him."

"I'm sure you could beat him. Do you think Eric is going to get angry when he can see you can fight?"

"Probably but he can't do anything about it," I say. I hope he doesn't try to do anything about it. "Come on we better get to training; I would hate to see how angry Eric could get if we were late."

We walk in the training room and the Dauntless born initiates are here too. I walk over and start to say hi to my friends.

"Today we are going on an excursion. We are going to go out to the fence so you can see what the fence guards do. Remember at least five of you will be working at the fence after initiation is over. Maybe this will motivate you to work a little harder," Eric says. "Let's go."

The train ride out to the fence is uneventful. Lynn, Uriah, Marlene, Edward, Myra, Rita and I are sitting in a kind of circle all talking. Christina, Will and Al are standing in a corner by themselves talking. I don't know why they haven't come and sat with us. Christina seems to be distancing herself from our group more and more every day. I don't understand why, we have always included her and Will in everything we do.

"Visiting Day is tomorrow. Do you think your family will come Tris?" Uriah asks.

"I think so. They came the last two years, so I hope now that I am here that they will want to see me too," I say.

I am sitting next to Rita and she whispers in my ear, "why would your parents come for two years before you got here?"

"They came to visit Four," I say.

"Oh, I didn't know he came from Abnegation. I always thought he was Dauntless born," she says.

"I know. He tries not to let people know where he is from," I say.

"Why not?" Rita asks.

"That's his story to tell Rita. Are you going to be okay tomorrow?" I ask.

"I had been trying not to think about it. Max and Four both told me that I could stay with my parents through initiation but I thought that would be harder than staying in the dorms. It will be strange to go back home. But I will be glad to see my parents. We haven't talked about what happened. I think we are all just still to upset," she says.

"Okay everyone get ready. The train will be stopping so there is no need to jump off," Eric says.

The train stops and we all disembark. I look around and see a chain-linked fence with barbed wire strung along the top. The fence continues on further than I can see. On the other side of the fence is a cluster of trees, most of them seem dead. Also on the other side of the fence are Dauntless guards carrying guns.

I can only imagine how horrible it would be out here in the middle of winter with the snow. The thought makes me think of Lynn and how grateful I am that she has been training me. Hopefully I will never have to find out just how cold it gets out here.

Eric and Lauren start to walk and we follow closely behind. "If you rank in the bottom five at the end of initiation then you will be working here," Eric says. "There isn't much opportunity for advancement and most people who work as a fence guard will have that position for the rest of their lives. Unless you are ranked in the top five you could still end up as a fence guard, it will all depend on what jobs are available this year."

"Hopefully this will motivate you all to work hard," Eric says but he is looking directly at Al. Al is the weakest link in our initiation class and Eric likes to be able to rub it in at every opportunity. I wonder if he will even get the chance to become a fence guard, if he doesn't pass initiation he could become factionless.

An Amity truck has stopped at the gate and some of the Amity people have jumped out the back. "Hey look who it is," Uriah says. "Robert," Uriah shouts out and runs over to greet him. Everyone who is in our group and knows Robert walks over to say hello.

When I reach Robert he gives me a giant hug and I just stand there not knowing what to do. I always hugged my family and Tobias but this feels strange. Robert has taken to Amity life well.

"Beatrice," Robert says as he puts me down. "It is so good to see you, it's good to see all of you. Wow most of your group transferred to Dauntless. I didn't expect that."

"It is good to see you to Robert. Are you liking Amity?" I ask.

"I love it here. The people are great, I love being outdoors. It is nice to have the peace without the restrictions of Abnegation," he says.

I just nod, I can understand wanting to leave Abnegation but I don't think I could stand all the happiness that they project. I wonder how they stay so happy all the time?

"I didn't think you would have transferred Christina," Robert says.

"Why not?" Christina asks sounding insulted more than shocked.

"I thought you'd be afraid to break a nail," Robert says. "Plus I didn't think the fashion would be as smart as Candor was for you."

I can see where Robert is coming from, Christina was always dressed well when we were in school and she is always trying to drag everyone shopping with her.

"Well Robert I cut my nails before I came to Dauntless and the shops in Dauntless are amazing. They have some awesome clothes," Christina says.

"I am really happy for you Christina," Robert says. You can't help but believe him, he has this whole happiness vibe radiating off him. It seems sort of weird to me after growing up with him in Abnegation.

"Initiates," Eric calls out. "Time to return to Dauntless."

We quickly say our goodbyes to Robert and walk toward the train platform. "Do you all understand the words 'Faction before blood'?" Eric asks.

"Yes," we all say together. What is his problem?

"You would do well to remember that," Eric says. "Dauntless takes those word very seriously and it will not look good if you don't abide by them."

"All we did was say hello," Uriah says.

"It doesn't matter what was said Uriah," Lauren says her voice so much calmer than Eric's was. "You need to remember you are being evaluated all the time.

As we travel back on the train we see a thunderstorm rolling in over the city. There is lightening and you can see the rain like sheets starting to fall across the city. It has been extremely hot today and that is what has probably brought the storm in. You forget what the temperature outside is like when you spend most of your days inside a cavernous rock. It looks quite magnificent as it moves across. I hope we aren't going to be jumping onto the net when we get back or we will get soaked.

TOBIAS POV

"What are you going to do about tonight?" Max asks.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Have you seen the weather outside?" He asks.

"I forgot, damn," I say. It's capture the flag tonight and with the rain we won't be able to be outside. "Is it supposed to keep raining?"

"Next three days at least," Max says.

"I suppose we could hold it in the pit. There are enough places to hide. Just have to keep the initiates away from the pub and club," I say.

"That could work. If you leave it until after midnight most people will have left the Pit. You might find you get a few more wanting to play. Just don't let anyone who is intoxicated play. We don't need any drunks running around with paintball guns, it will take us months to clean up the mess. I also don't need anyone falling off one of the paths," Max says.

"I'll talk to Eric and we can come up with some rules for the game," I say. "I'll also make sure that he has the initiates clean up tomorrow. I'm sure we are going to have a few windows covered in paint by the end of the game."

* * *

I'm standing in the middle of the pit waiting for the initiates to get out of bed. I watch as they slowly make their way over to where Eric and I with some members are standing.

"Tonight we play capture the flag. Now because of the weather we have had to move the game indoors," I say.

"Ohhh," says Uriah. "I was looking forward to this."

"You still can Uriah," I say. "Now a few ground rules before we start. You cannot hide your flag in the nightclub or pub. Actually these areas are off limits, I don't need a paintball war in the middle of the dance floor. If any other shop is open, then you stay out. There are plenty of places that you can hide your flags. Try and aim properly because you will be responsible for cleaning the Pit of any paintballs tomorrow."

"Now we will be dividing into two teams. Each team will have an even mix of members, Dauntless borns and transfers. One team will sit in the dining hall while the other team hides their flag, then you will swap and the other team will hide their flag. Once both flags are hidden you will have two minutes to leave the pit. So think up strategies while the other team is hiding their flag. This is Dauntless tradition, so I suggest you take it seriously," I say.

"What do we get if we win?" someone shouts.

"Sounds like something someone not from Dauntless would ask," Says Tobias. "You get to win, of course."

"Eric and I will be your team captains," I say. "Let's divide the transfers first."

"You pick first," I tell Eric.

"Okay, Peter," Eric says.

"Tris," I say.

"Of course you do," says Eric.

We quickly divide up the teams and I have Tris, Christina, Will, Myra and Edward from the transfers. Dauntless borns are Uriah, Lynn, Marlene, Rita and Jett. I have all the people I wanted on my team and a few more. Zeke and Shauna are also here. I just hope we can win. We have never had to play indoors before and so I don't know how successful it is going to be.

"Your team can hide their flag first," Eric says. "You have ten minutes."

I take my team and we gather around in a circle. "Okay you only have ten minutes. Think about where you want to hide it and someone needs to go and put it there," I say. "Make sure you put it somewhere that isn't visible from where we are now."

I stand there and let them argue the point, while I watch the time. The transfers, well mainly Will and Christina want to have it their way but Uriah and Lynn aren't backing down. The Dauntless borns know Dauntless a lot better than the transfers, it would probably be in their best interest to listen to them.

"I think we should listen to Uriah," says Myra. She is always so quiet but she was Erudite. "They know this area better than the rest of us. Let Uriah hide the flag."

"You have three minutes, hurry up and make up your minds," I say. "Uriah just go and hide the flag, be smart about it."

Uriah takes off and the rest of us stand there talking about strategy. With less than thirty seconds to go Uriah gets back and we walk into the dining hall. I hope the other team doesn't see our flag while they are hiding theirs, otherwise it will be a really quick game. I wonder where Uriah hid our flag.

"Okay we need a strategy to find their flag but remember we need to protect our flag too," I say.

"I think Shauna and Zeke should protect our flag. Then have a second group a little further away protecting Shauna and Zeke," says Tris. "Then we have split up into two groups. One group breaks apart and looks for the flag while the other group stays in the Pit and knocks out whoever they can from the other team. Once we have found the flag we tell the team in the Pit and we all go and try and get their flag."

"That's an awesome idea," Uriah says. I think he just likes to see Zeke having to sit and do nothing, I'm sure he will tease him about it later.

"How about Myra, Rita and Jett can protect Zeke and Shauna," Lynn says. Thankfully they are happy to do this.

"Uriah and Marlene and Tris and Four should scout the area for the other flag," Lynn says. "The rest of us can start shooting anyone who comes near the Pit."

"Okay so as soon as Eric's team comes back we need to move. Uriah you better let our defensive players know where you hid the flag," I say.

"Oh yeah," Uriah says with a laugh. "I almost forgot."

We are only standing there for about a minute when Eric's team comes in. "Ready to go?" I ask.

"Yes," everyone shouts back.

"Okay you have two minutes to get into position. After that it's game on," I say. "Go."

I watch as people scatter everywhere. "What are you thinking Tris?" I can see she is thinking of something her face scrunches up between her eyebrows when she is thinking.

"We need to climb up there," she says. She is pointing to a rusted ladder that is attached to the rock wall and goes all the way up to the roof. I know the window cleaners sometimes use it to climb up to the windows in the Pire, it isn't often that they clean the outside of the windows. I remember the first time that I saw them doing it. It was like I was climbing and I completely lost my stomach just watching them.

Before I can stop her she has started climbing. I stand there for another minute frozen and then I realise I better follow her. I put my foot on the first rung and I know that this is going to be difficult. I need to find a way to distract myself. At first I just watch the view of Tris climbing. I'm sure she would be blushing right now if she knew what I was doing.

"So, what do you think the purpose of capture the flag is?" I ask. I can hear my breathing getting heavier the further we climb.

"Learning about strategy," she says. "Depending on whose team you're on, teamwork."

I hope she is talking about our team when she says teamwork. "We are trying to make teamwork a priority," I say.

"Well I guess I'm lucky I'm on your team then. I couldn't imagine there being much teamwork on Eric's team," she says.

"That's true. He likes to do things only for himself," I say.

We are about three quarters of the way up and I say, "this is far enough Tris."

She hangs one arm off the ladder and swings her body around and starts to look around. "No we need to go higher," she says. Watching her swing like this scares me and I can't breathe. Once she turns around and starts climbing again I feel like I can start to breathe again. Although as we get higher my breathing is become even heavier.

Tris reaches the top and climbs onto the ledge. There isn't much room to move and Tris has her legs dangling over the side. I crouch down and rest my back on the window.

"Oh my, I forgot you're afraid of heights. I am so sorry Tobias. I should never have made you come up here," Tris says. "How do you walk around here every day?"

"I ignore my fear," I say. "I don't climb up rusty ladders on the side of the Pit wall."

Tris laughs a little. "Look," she says. She points across the Pit to the top of the rock climbing wall. In the corner scrunched up is the other teams flag. We would never have found it if Tris hadn't climbed up here.

"Let's go tell our team," I say. "Follow me, I know a short cut."

We climb down the ladder a few metres until we reach a walk way. I get off the ladder, glad to be on solid ground again. Once Tris is off the ladder we walk over to the elevator. This will be a lot easier for me than trying to walk back down that ladder.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Tris asks.

"Because I didn't know what you had planned," I say.

We get down to the others and we tell them where the flag is. Drew, Molly and Gabe are the only ones guarding the flag. We decide that Lynn and Tris will climb the wall while Christina, Will, Edward and I will distract the other team.

We move in while Tris and Lynn wait for us to move the others away from the wall so they can start climbing. Once they are a few metres from the wall the girls start climbing. It doesn't take either of them long to get to the top.

We hear a commotion from above and I see that Eric was hiding up there. We couldn't see him in the dark across the Pit. He hits Tris square in the chest but he hasn't seen Lynn as she is right behind Tris. Lynn opens fire on Eric and she hits him square in the face. She climbs onto the ledge and grabs the flag. She stands up and shows everyone the flag. It glows so bright in the dark that about a quarter of the pit can be seen in its glow.

I watch as Tris and Lynn climb down. Happy when they are both back on the Pit floor. Our team gathers round and cheers. It is always a good night when you win capture the flag. That's three years in a row that my team has beaten Eric's. I'm glad the initiates will be on cleaning detail tomorrow, otherwise, you just don't know what Eric may do. You do know he will be in a really bad mood.

I give Tris a hug. "You did really well tonight. You are the reason our team won," I say.

"He's right," says Marlene. "Your strategy got us the win."

"So Uriah, where did you hide our flag?" I ask.

"In the girl's locker room. You know the ones at the back of the fighting ring, no one ever uses them," Uriah says.

"Does that mean Zeke has been sitting in the girl's locker room all night?" Lynn asks, laughing.

"Ha ha, do you know how many times I have tried to sneak in there when I was younger? I don't know why I bothered now that I've been in there. It is disgusting," Zeke says.

"That's why no one ever goes in there," Shauna says. Everyone just continues to laugh at Zeke. The sad thing is I could imagine him trying to get into the girl's locker room.


	30. Chapter 30

CHAPTER THIRTY

TRIS POV

I wake up and I can already feel the excitement in the air. Today is visiting day. Although we are all still tired from our paintball game last night, you can tell we are all hoping our families will be here today.

I quickly get up and get dressed. Christina is still asleep and I don't know whether to wake her or not. I see Will is up. "Do you think I should wake her?" I ask Will.

"Better you than me. Last time I tried to wake her she wouldn't talk to me for three hours," Will says.

I walk over to Christina's bed and lightly shake her shoulder. "Christina," I say softly.

"Christina it's Visiting Day. Don't you want to see your family?" I say a little louder.

"Just five more minutes' mum," Christina says. This makes Will and I laugh.

"Christina," I say in my normal voice. It seems trying to wake her gently doesn't work.

Christina jumps up and looks around all disorientated. She really is a sight in the morning.

"What the hell Tris?" Christina yells.

"It's Visiting Day. Come on you need to get up," I say.

"Okay, fine. I will meet you in the dining hall," Christina grumbles.

"Will are you coming?" I ask.

"Yeah," Will says. "Don't go back to sleep Christina."

We walk out of the dormitory and make our way to the dining hall.

"Do you think your family will come today?" I ask Will.

"Probably just my sister. Cara is the only one who said she would support my decision if I transferred," Will says. "What about you?"

"I think my mum and dad will come. I hope so. Although they might go and see my brother Caleb," I say. "I'm not real sure." I just automatically thought they would come and see me and Tobias. I can't believe I forgot about Caleb. I'm sure they will want to see him as well.

We reach our usual table and there are only transfers here. I suppose all our Dauntless born friends went straight home after they got up this morning. Or they are still in bed.

"Morning," Tobias says and gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey," I say.

"What's wrong?" Tobias asks.

"What if they don't come? What if they just go and visit Caleb?" I say.

"Tris, stop worrying. They will come," Tobias says.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. They won't be able to see Caleb," Tobias says.

"Why not?"

"Erudite have banned all Abnegation from their headquarters," Tobias says.

"But I thought that Erudite and Abnegation had come to some sort of agreement," I say.

"I wasn't at the last meeting but Max was telling me that Jeanine has done a complete backflip on the agreements that were in place. She is now demanding more say in the government. She doesn't want to wait until the two-year agreement is up. She wants things changed now," Tobias says.

"Poor Caleb. He is going to be so disappointed that they didn't visit," I say. I hope Caleb is okay and that he isn't believing the lies that Erudite are spreading.

* * *

Tobias and I are standing in the Pit; it is a rainbow of colour here today. It probably has something to do with all the paint on the walls from last night's game of capture the flag. Which I am sure I will be helping to clean up in a few more hours.

"Tobias they should keep the paint from last night on the wall," I say. "I think it actually makes the place seem more Dauntless, knowing how it got there."

"Or are you just wanting to get out of cleaning all the paint up?" Tobias says with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe a little, but don't you think it looks good?" I say. "I think it brings more life to the Pit. Everything is so black or grey, it's nice to have a bit of colour around."

I am watching as I see my friends with their families. Christina is standing with her mum and little sister. You can tell that it is Christina's sister, they are so alike. Will has a woman only a few years older than us with him. Must be his sister. It's sad that the rest of his family doesn't support his decision. I wonder who else will be missing family today.

Tobias nudges my shoulder and I look up at him. He nods his head and I look and that is when I see both mum and dad. I am so relieved they came. I run over and give mum a big hug. It is so good to see her. Once I finish giving mum a hug, I hug my dad.

"Look at you," mum says. "You look so Dauntless. And you have grown I think."

"How are you enjoying Dauntless Beatrice?" Dad asks.

"I love it but it is a lot of hard work," I say.

"You both look happy," dad says. As he looks down and sees Tobias and I holding hands. "So it looks like I don't have to worry about who Beatrice is dating then Tobias."

I see Tobias blush and I can't help but to smile a little.

"Dad I wanted to ask your permission but . . ." Tobias says but dad cuts him off.

"Tobias it is alright. We all knew this was going to happen eventually. Maybe a little sooner than I would have liked. But you both have our blessing," Dad says.

"Thank you," Tobias says and he gives dad a hug.

"How is training going?" Mum asks. "Have you got to fire a gun yet."

"Training is good, hard but I am enjoying it. Tobias found us an old training room to practice in so I hang out with my friends there. Yes, I finally got to fire a gun. It was so loud, I didn't think it would be anything like it was," I say with excitement in my voice. "I am so glad you taught me how to look after you gun. It really helped me."

"Natalie," dad says. "Did you let Beatrice use your gun?"

"Of course not. I just showed her how to dismantle it and put it back together," mum says.

Dad just shakes his head. "I suppose it doesn't matter now," dad says. "Both you kids are probably using them all the time."

Tobias and I just smile.

"Is it true you can't see Caleb?" I ask.

"Yes," dad says. "I don't know what Erudite are up to but it isn't good. They are causing so much trouble."

"It doesn't seem fair," I say. "At least next year we can all meet in Abnegation. I promised Caleb just before we chose that we would do that. We will be able to do that, won't we?"

"Yes we can all do that Beatrice," mum says. "But you have to promise to bring some of that Dauntless cake."

"Do you want some now?" Tobias asks. "I can go and get you some, you can take it home if you like."

"You could do that?" mum asks. "Your dad hasn't ever tasted it."

"Of course I can," Tobias says. "There has to be some perks to being a leader. I'll go and get it now."

As Tobias walks off mum pulls me into a hug. "Beatrice," mum whispers into my ear. "You need to go and see Caleb as soon as initiation is over. You need to get him to look into the simulation serum. It is really important. Did you tell Tobias your results?"

I nod my head. "Good girl," mum says. "I am so happy for you and Tobias, you need to look after each other. Okay?"

Mum let's go of me and we just stand here talking about random things, what I have learned so far, how dad's job is going and what mum has been doing with her volunteer work.

Tobias comes back and he has a large container with him. It looks like he got them a whole cake.

"Leadership really does have its perks here," dad says.

"Whatever you can't get through you can freeze for later," says Tobias. "Although I am sure once you have tasted it you will be asking me to bring you more when we are at the council meetings together."

"You haven't been to the last few meetings Tobias. Is something wrong?" Dad asks.

"No we try to alternate who goes and with initiation coming up I didn't have the time to attend," Tobias says. "Once initiation is over I am sure the other leaders will be making me go to make up for how many I have missed. I know Max hates having to go. He will be the first one shoving me out the door."

"Have you had any contact with Evelyn?" Dad asks. "It's just Max told me he was worried about what they were up too. He told me he had you trying to contact her."

"Yeah he had me out there for weeks trying to see her. She is planning something. She just kept going on about how I should join her," Tobias says. "I could never join her; I don't understand how she can think I would want to."

"In her own way she still loves you Tobias. Just remember you are an adult now and that you have to live your life the way you want too. Not the way anyone else thinks you should. Eventually you will want your own family and you will need to do what is best for them. If you don't want contact with her than don't. It is up to you, you have choices," Mum says.

When mum mentioned having a family Tobias and I both looked at each other. I don't think either of us has thought that far ahead.

"We need to go," dad says. "I'm sorry we can't stay longer but we don't want people to think that you are too attached to us. If word got back to the other factions, it could look bad for all of us."

We both give mum and dad quick hugs and say our goodbyes. I wish they could have stayed longer but at least we got to see them. I feel sorry for Caleb, today must really suck for him.

"Do you want me to go to Erudite and see Caleb?" Tobias asks.

"Yes but you shouldn't. It will look bad for him if you go. We don't know what Jeanine is up to and we don't want to get Caleb in any trouble," I say.

"I could probably get away with it, being a leader and all," Tobias says.

"No Tobias. Can we just go to your place for a while?"

Tobias grabs my hand and we start the walk towards his apartment. As we are passing Max he stops us. "I told Lauren and Eric not to worry about getting the initiates to clean the Pit walls. I have had so many people comment on how they like seeing all the splattered paint, so it can just stay there. There are only a few windows that need cleaning so I'll get the cleaning staff onto that tomorrow. Fights start tomorrow don't they?"

"For the transfers yes, the Dauntless borns started theirs last week," Tobias says.

"Come and get me when they start, I'm interested to see what happens."

"I will," Tobias says.

"Good luck in the fights Tris," Max says and he gives me a wink

"Thank you," I say. Wondering what that was all about.

We continue to walk and I say, "Tobias why did Max wink at me?"

"He is excited to see how you fight Tris. Also he can't wait to see Eric's reaction. He knows that you and Lynn have been training together and he wants to see how you go."

"No pressure," I say.

"You will be fine Tris. Don't even worry about it," Tobias says.

TOBIAS POV

We walk into my apartment and I ask, "So what do you want to do?"

"Can we just lay down. I am exhausted," Tris says.

"Sure," I say. No one has had much sleep. We didn't finish the paint ball game until after three this morning and then we had to get up for Visiting Day.

We walk into my bedroom and we both lie on the bed. It is just like when we were younger and we are lying with Tris facing away from me and me curled around her.

"I've missed this," she says.

"Me too," I say. "Tris I need to ask you something."

Tris turns around facing me, now I am feeling even more nervous than I was when I didn't have to face her.

"What is it Tobias?" she asks.

"I know that this will seem really soon but in a way I don't think it is because we have spent so much time together when we were kids. Anyway I was thinking, well hoping really, that when initiation is over that . . . well what I'm trying to say is . . . ."

"Tobias anything you want to say is okay," Tris says.

Why is this so hard?

"Tris I want you to move in with me," I say as quickly as I can.

"You do?" Tris asks.

"Yeah, it's just I can't imagine us both living in Dauntless and not being together. I hate knowing you are so close and I can't be with you. It was definitely easier when you were still in Abnegation. But the last couple of weeks have almost been torturous for me. And now I know we have mum and dad's blessing. Well I just think . . . "

"Yes," Tris says.

"Yes?" I ask just to make sure I have heard correctly.

"Yes," Tris says. "I have felt exactly the same. I hate having to sleep with a room full of people, half of them I don't even like. Knowing you are so close by almost hurts."

"Are you still getting your nightmares Tobias?"

"Yes, sometimes. Not like it was when we were living in Abnegation. Knowing that he is locked up and can't hurt anyone else has helped. But occasionally I still get them. Especially after I go to the council meetings. I don't know why, it's not like he is there," I say.

"But wasn't that when he was at his worst, after the council meetings," Tris says.

"Yeah that's probably it," I say. "Do you think I should go and visit him?"

"Do you want to do that?" Tris asks.

"Part of me never wants to see him again. But then I wonder if I went would I finally be able to feel free of him," I say.

"Only you know the answer to that," she says. "But if you decide you want to go, I can go with you."

"You would do that for me?" I ask.

"Of course I would," she says. "I will always be here for you."

"I'll think about it," I say. I don't know if I really want to go and see Marcus. I don't know if it will do me any good. I do know that for now I have plenty of time before I have to make that decision. He has years before he will be out of prison.

"What did you think of what mum said?" I ask.

"Which bit exactly?"

"About starting my own family?"

"You want to start a family?" Tris asks. I can hear the shock in her voice.

I laugh a little. "Not now, but one day," I say. "I hadn't really thought about it until she said something and now I can't get it out of my head."

"One day sounds good. But not yet. I only just got here and well I really don't want to be pregnant for a few more years. And babies sound great but they take up all of your attention."

"True," I say. "It just might be nice to have our own family."

"We don't have to have kids to be a family Tobias. We are a family," Tris says. "Maybe we should talk to Natasha. I'm sure she would let you mind your brother and sister. That way we can see just what's involved. Maybe we won't want kids until we are like forty after that."

"That's a great idea. I would love to spend time with them. Do you think she would let us?"

"I don't know. We can only ask. I'm sure she would want you to get to know them. So even if you can't mind them we should at least try and make an effort to go and see her. Are we allowed to do that? With it not being a visiting day are we allowed to move around the factions?"

"I will find out. I'm sure because I am a leader that I can but I don't know," I say. "Max knows the rule book back to front. I will ask him."

"It's funny thinking of Max knowing all this stuff. He seems like he should be out patrolling or something," Tris says.

"I know. Do you know he knows every single person in this faction? When I was training with him to become leader, every day we would walk around the Pit and he would greet every person by name. He knows what their jobs are, who their children are. It was incredible to watch. But then you walk into his office and most of the time you can't see his desk for paperwork. He always looks really unorganised but he knows everyone in the faction, he knows the rules and their punishments. He is really hard to work out."

"That's probably what makes him a good leader."

"Probably," I say. "Do you want a drink?"

"Yeah okay," Tris says.

I get up and get us something to drink. All this talking has made my mouth dry, or maybe it's just the topics of conversation. I can't wait for initiation to be over. I can't wait to be living with Tris again.

I go back into the bedroom and I sit on the bed with my back resting on the headboard. Tris comes and sits facing me. "Tobias can I ask you something?" she says.

"Of course you can," I say.

"What's your tattoo?" she asks.

I lean forward and take my shirt off. Then I turn so that Tris can see my tattoo. She moves over and starts tracing her fingers over the flames. You would think the flames were real with the feeling I am getting from her touch. It is as if every movement is awakening the flames and they are burning me alive.

"This is amazing. What made you get your whole back covered?"

"I still had some scars from you know and well I wanted to hide them," I say.

"You have all the faction symbols on here. They aren't easy to see but whoever did this, wow," she says.

"It was Tori. I wanted a different design but she said that it was too dangerous. So she made this one for me. So I could have all the factions but you would have to look closely to see them," I say.

Tris is still tracing the design and I can feel myself getting heated. Then she sees the tattoo I have on my ribs. Tris moves around and sits over my legs while she traces the design on my ribs. I can feel my breath hitch as she keeps touching me.

I lean back on the headboard again. Tris moves forward, toward me and is now straddling my lap. I can't help myself and I lean forward and kiss her. It is unbelievable the way she can make me feel. I know I am going to have to stop this but at the same time I can't seem to pull away.

But I do pull away, breathless and about to lose all control if I keep kissing her. "Tris we have to stop," I say.

"What? Why?" she asks. "Don't you want to kiss me?"

"More than anything. I love kissing you. But I don't know how long I can control myself," I say.

Tris looks at me with a puzzled look on her face. I look her in the eyes and then move my eyes toward my crotch. She follows my eyes and then realisation dawns on her face.

"Oh, Tobias I'm sorry," she says.

"Don't be sorry Tris," I say. "I like that you do this to me. It's just . . ."

"Can I touch it?" she asks.

"Really?"

She nods and I gulp. I want her too but what if she isn't ready for any of this.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"Yes," she says.

I just nod. I don't have words at this moment. So instead I just kiss her.


	31. Chapter 31

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

TRIS POV

I wake startled not knowing where I am. I can't here the normal noises that I would in the dormitory. Then I feel his warm arms enveloping me and I realise I must have fallen asleep at Tobias's. I look over and see that he is sleeping so peacefully. I look at the time and it is almost seven thirty. I need to be in the training room in just over half an hour.

I try to move but Tobias has a hold on me. I am going to have to wake him if I want to get out of his embrace. "Tobias," I whisper.

"Mmm," he says.

"I have to get up," I say. "I need to get to training."

"I can write you a note," he says. I know he is only joking because of the smile that is on his face.

"I don't think Eric would accept a note from you," I say.

"Probably not," he says. "Just a few more minutes Tris."

"Tobias I need to go and get something to eat," I say. I know I want to stay here all morning with him but I can't fail initiation either. That is exactly what Eric would do to me.

"Okay," he says. "But at least give me a kiss before you get up."

"That I can do," I say and he loosens his grip enough so that I can move over and give him a kiss. It isn't a long one. I need to leave this room now if I don't want to be late. I move off the bed and see our clothes all over the fall.

Then I remember what we did last night and I can't help but blush. I start to pick up my clothes and get dressed. I am just doing up my shoelaces when Tobias leans over and hugs me.

"Max and I will be coming to watch you fight today," he says.

"Oh, should I be worried?"

"No, Max is excited to see what Lynn has taught you," he says. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"I mean with what we did last night?"

"I'm more than okay with that Tobias. I love you," I say.

He smiles. "I love you too, Tris."

"I better go, I don't want to be late," I say.

"I'll see you in a little bit. Good luck with your fight. But I don't think you will need it," he says.

I quickly get up and give him a kiss and then I am running out the door. I really want something on my stomach before I have to fight. Although there is a good probability that it could come back up during my fight. As long as I don't have to fight Edward then I should be able to win. I think there are a few people that would give me a good fight but I am sure that I can win. I also hope that I don't have to fight against Myra. I would hate to have to beat her, she is so nice and probably a little too delicate for Dauntless but I would hate to have to inflict pain on her.

* * *

I reach the training room with only seconds to spare. At least I got to eat something before I got here. I look around and see Christina, Will and Al standing together. I walk over and they all look nervous.

"Where were you yesterday?" Christina asks. "We didn't see you after your parents left."

"I spent some time with Four," I say.

"Oh, I suppose it must be good having a leader for a boyfriend," Christina says. "Does that mean you don't have to slum it in the dorms with us?"

"What's the hostility for Christina?" Will asks.

"Well it seems unfair that she can just go where ever she wants when we are stuck in the dorms," Christina says.

I really don't want to start an argument with Christina just before we all have to start fighting but I don't understand why she is so upset with me. Before I can answer Eric is calling out to us.

"Okay initiates, listen up. Today is the first day of fights. Over the next two weeks you will be fighting your fellow initiates. You will not fight every day but you will still be expected to come to training. Just because you won't be fighting doesn't mean you won't be working hard," Eric says.

"Because there is an odd number of you, one of you will get sit out. If that is you, it would be a good idea if you spent your time training. I don't want to see you sitting around. Now all fights will only end when one of you is unable to continue. So let's see who you are fighting today."

Eric turns the board around and the first thing I see is that Myra is sitting out today. I let out a sigh. This is good, it will give her a few more days to train. I start to scan the board again but Christina is nudging me with her elbow.

"This isn't good," she says. "Look I'm up against the tank."

"I think Tris has bigger worries than you do Christina," Al says.

"How?" she says.

"Tris is fighting Peter," Will says.

"How do you do it Tris?" Christina asks.

"What are you talking about Christina?" I ask her.

"Well you always seem to be able to get everyone's attention," she says.

I don't even know what to say to this. Is she joking? When have I ever tried to get attention? I hate having attention on me, I would much rather fade into the background. Instead of trying to answer her I walk over to talk to Myra.

"You must be glad you don't have to fight today?" I say.

"Hi Tris, yeah I am. I just hope I can get a little stronger over the next few days before I have to fight. I'm sure I'm not going to get the chance to sit out again," Myra says.

"Probably not. Don't worry we can practice at night. We will make you stronger," I say.

"Yes we will," says Edward, putting his arms around her waist.

"Ready for your fight Tris?" Edward asks.

"Yeah. I think I can beat him," I say.

"I'm sure you can. I think your greatest weapon today is shock. He is not going to know what hit him," Edward says.

"What about you Edward? You should be able to get rid of Drew pretty quickly," I say.

"Yeah he is strong but stupid. So I should be able to get this over with pretty quickly," Edward says.

"Edward, Drew get in the ring. Make it look good we have an audience today," Eric says.

Eric looks towards the door and we all follow to see that Tobias and Max have walked in. The fights are now feeling very real. I feel like I have been training for so long for this and it didn't seem like it was ever going to come around but it's here now. I need to win, Lynn has put so much time into helping me that I would hate to let her down. Tobias has faith in me even Max is looking forward to seeing me fight.

Edward walks into the ring with Drew following. Unless Drew gets a lucky shot in, I don't think he will have a chance against Edward. Edward has been training for this for six years, a lot longer than I have. I almost feel sorry for Drew, almost.

They get into their fighting stances and Eric yells, "Begin."

Edward starts to circle Drew; you can see that he is looking for any weaknesses. Edward has been having mock fights with Uriah the last few weeks and I'm sure he could probably take Uriah. Not every time but sometimes.

Drew is the one to throw the first punch it is sloppy and is blocked easily by Edward. You can see that he throws his whole body into the punch but then he leaves himself wide open as he gets back into his fighting stance. You can see the side of Edwards lips curl just a little. He has noticed what Drew does too.

Edward keeps moving but hasn't thrown a punch yet. You can see that he is waiting for Drew, I am sure he will attack as soon as he has blocked Drew's next punch. We don't have to wait long. Drew throws another punch at Edward and it is blocked quickly. Then Edward goes to work on Drew. He quickly punches Drew in the jaw and follows it up with quick jabs to Drew's stomach and ribs. As Drew tries to back away Edward kicks him in the side. Drew is completely off balance so Edward throws a final blow that hits Drew on the temple and he is out cold.

I see Myra relax next to me. "He won, there was never anything to worry about," I say.

"I know. I better go and start practicing. Eric will get angry if I don't. Good luck Tris, I know you can beat him," she says.

"Thanks," I say.

"Peter, Tris in the ring," Eric calls out.

I look over to Tobias and he gives me a small smile and nods. It feels like he is telling me that he knows I can win this.

I get into the ring and quickly put my arms up into my fighting stance. I am feeling really nervous right now. But it's not because I am fighting Peter it is for all the questions I am going to be asked once this is over. I did what Tobias told me and I've been acting like the weak Abnegation girl every time we were in training.

"You okay there, Stiff?" Peter says. "You look like you're about to cry. I might go easy on you if you cry."

Peter makes me sick. I hope that Max and Tobias can hear what he is saying. I can see them moving closer to the fighting ring for this fight. They are now standing with Eric.

Peter gets into his fighting stance but is still acting like this is a joke and that he will beat me. Not just beat me but he will enjoy doing it.

"Come on, Stiff," he says. "Just one little tear. Maybe some begging."

The more he talks the more I can study him. He is a lot weaker on his left side. He doesn't hold his left hand with the strength that he has in his right. Which means that he is less likely to use his left hand to punch. He does have a great height benefit on me. But Uriah and Edward have helped me with that over the last few days.

Peter is quick to throw a punch at me and as I thought he used his right arm. I block his punch and give him a quick kick to the side. His eyes flash with surprise. I must have kicked him harder than he thought I could.

The way that Peter is holding his left hand leaves his stomach open. I just need to watch for a bit longer, Peter has a lot longer reach than I do and I need to be smart about it. He throws another punch, aiming for my face. I see the opening and I quickly throw three quick jabs at his stomach. He doubles over at the force of my impact.

While he is still leaning over I hit him another three times but this time the hits are aimed at his head. I hit his jaw, then I hear the crack from his nose as I hit it. That sounds like I could have broken it; blood is starts to stream out of it. And the third hit is straight to his temple. I have to walk backwards quickly as Peter falls face first onto the mat, his unconscious.

I hear clapping and look over to see that Tobias and Max are both clapping, when I turn I also see the Edward and Myra are clapping as well. I can't help but smile, I didn't know I would ever feel this good for beating someone unconscious. But I do.

TOBIAS POV

I am so proud of Tris, all the hard work has paid off and she won her first fight. And she won it well.

"Your girl did good Four," Max says.

"She did," I say.

"You're a fucking cheat Four," Eric starts yelling at me. "You've been training her. Female initiates don't fight like that, ever."

"I would be very careful with what you say here Eric," Max says.

"Are you kidding, you are letting him get away with this?" Eric yells at Max.

"He isn't getting away with anything Eric. Four hasn't been training her. And your information is incorrect. Have you ever seen the Dauntless born girls fight?" Max says.

"This is complete bullshit, someone has been training her and I want to know who," Eric bellows.

"Well if you calm down a little and ask nicely, Tris might tell you," I say.

"As if she is going to tell me the truth," Eric says.

"Are you calling Tris a liar?" I ask.

"Of course she will protect you," he spits at me.

"The sooner you stop thinking that everyone is against you Eric, the sooner you may get some answers. When do you think I had time to train Tris? We were in different faction for goodness sake," I say.

"Tris, can you come over here please," Max calls out.

Tris comes over and I can see the rest of the initiates moving closer as well. The funniest thing about this situation is that Peter is still lying on the mat out cold.

"Tris, firstly great fight," Max says.

"Thank you," she says.

"Now do you think you could let Eric here know where you learnt to fight?" Max asks.

"Lynn," is all that Tris says.

"Are fucking joking?" Screams Eric. "She is probably the best female fighter in Dauntless. How did she do this? Did you put her up to it?" Eric points his finger at me.

"I didn't know about it until a few months ago," I say.

"A few months ago, how long was she helping her? This is bullshit. Tris should be fighting the Dauntless borns," Eric says.

"Really? So should Edward be fighting the Dauntless borns? He has had fight training before coming here too," I say.

"This is unacceptable," Eric says.

"Eric you need to calm down. I think your initiate needs to go to the infirmary," Max says pointing at Peter. "Four I think we should go and see how the Dauntless borns are going. And Eric make sure you dock that moron some points for the Stiff comments."

I walk over and give Tris a hug. "I'll see you at lunch, you did great. I'm really proud of you."

Max and I walk out the door and as soon as it closes Max starts laughing. "Did you see his face? That was hilarious. Tris is going to make a great Dauntless Four," he says.

TRIS POV

I walk over to the punching bags when Tobias and Max leave. I want to be as far from Eric as possible at the moment.

"Do you want me to hold the bag for you?" I ask Myra.

"Thanks Tris," she says.

We stay doing this while the fight between Al and Will is on. I occasionally look over just so I can see the way they fight. But I think Myra needs my help more than I need to watch the whole fight. Neither are great fighters and I don't think I would have any trouble against them.

"It was good to see you bring Peter down," Myra says.

"Can you imagine what his mood is going to be like when he wakes up and realises what happens," I say.

We both start laughing at this. Edward comes back from taking Peter to the infirmary. "What are you two laughing at?" he asks.

"Peter," Myra says.

Edward starts laughing too. "He is still out cold Tris. You did really well against him," he says.

"You did too Edward. I suppose Drew and Peter can lay in the infirmary together wondering what happened to themselves," I say.

This has us all laughing again. "Myra let's have a mock fight and Edward can stand with you and help you," I say. "We won't punch each other or anything, just it will help you when you are trying to see what weaknesses your opponent has."

"Good idea Tris," Edward says. "Let's begin."

We are about to start when we hear Eric screaming for someone to get Will of the mat. I'm a little surprised by this, I really thought that Will had a chance. Edward goes over and helps Al with Will.

"Christina, Molly get up here," Eric calls. He still sounds angry. I would guess the longer we stay here the angrier he is getting.

I'm really worried for Christina, her attitude about the fight is already putting her at a disadvantage. As we watch the fight I can see Molly getting the upper hand. Eric looks almost bored with what is happening. He is probably exhausted after his screaming fit with Tobias and Max.

"Stop!" Christina tries to yell as Molly pulls her foot back ready to kick Christina again. Christina is on the ground and is holding her hand out. "Stop, I'm done," she says.

Eric walks over to Christina. His movements are slow and controlled. Although he looks as though he could blow a gasket at any moment. "I'm sorry, did you say you were done?" he asks

Christina is trying to get onto her knees but is struggling. She nods her head to Eric admitting that she is conceding. I can't see this ending well. "Get up," he says. His voice is quiet but you can still here the malice in it. Christina hasn't moved so Eric bends down and grabs her around her arm and pulls her to her feet.

He doesn't let go of her arm and he turns to the rest of us and says, "Follow me."

We all follow as Eric drags Christina out of the training room. He was already angry before this and it seems we are all going to see just what happens when Eric is angry. We are all quiet as we follow Eric and Christina. We reach the chasm and I am wondering what Eric has install for Christina.

Eric shoves Christina against the railing.

"Climb over it," he says.

"What?" Christina cries out. Her eyes are wide and her face has paled.

"Climb over the railing," Eric says. "If you can hang over the chasm for five minutes, I will forget your cowardice. If you can't, I will make sure you are factionless."

I know he can't do that. But I don't think this is the time for me to stand up to him. Most of the anger he is feeling is probably because of me, I promised Tobias that I would be careful around Eric. If I say something now it will be me hanging over the chasm and I don't want to have Tobias angry with me as well.

I know how hard I have been working to make sure I get into Dauntless. Christina has been too busy shopping and hanging around with Will to take this all seriously. I don't agree with what Eric is doing but maybe it is the wakeup call that Christina needs.

"Fine," Christina says. Her voice is shaky and she is looking defeated. I don't even know if she is going to be able to last five minutes. As she swings her leg over the railing I can see her foot shaking. She quickly swings her other leg over and she is now facing us. She wipes her hands on her pants and lowers herself so she is hanging over the chasm.

Al starts the timer on his watch and we all stand to stunned to do anything. Maybe just a little scared to go against Eric. We watch as Christina struggles against the water spraying her back, we watch as she lets go with one hand. We just watch. I hear Al call out encouragement to her. At least until Eric's glare shuts him up.

I don't remember five minutes being this long before. I try to catch a look at Al's watch but I can't see it from here. I wish this was over, she must be nearly done. Another waves hits Christina and we all hear her cry out. Thankfully she is still holding strong.

"Five minutes is up," Al calls out.

I know Eric has heard him but he still waits a few extra seconds before even looking at his own watch. Hasn't she suffered enough I think. But Eric is going to make us wait just that little bit longer, proving that he is in control and that we need to follow his rules.

"You can get up now Christina," Eric says sounding bored. It makes me think he is disappointed that she actually lasted the five minutes.

Al moves towards the railing and helps Christina up. As he is pulling Christina over I try to help too, not that I can do much I'm just too short. Once Christina is over I try to console her but she pushes my hand away.

"Get away from me," she snaps.

I don't know what is going on. Why is she acting this way?

"Trainings over for the day," Eric says. Then he storms off.


	32. Chapter 32

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

TRIS POV

I walk into the dining hall and I find Lynn, Uriah and Marlene sitting at our usual table. I go and grab some food and sit down.

"How were fights today?" Lynn asks.

"I had to fight Peter," I say.

"You won though didn't you?" Marlene asks.

"Yeah she did," Tobias says. He sits down next to me and gives me a hug. "All your hard work paid off Lynn, she was amazing."

"That's great Tris," Lynn says.

"I couldn't have done it without you," I say.

"What do you mean?" Christina asks. Her, Will and Al have just reached our table.

"Tris and Lynn have been training together," Uriah says.

"For how long?" Will asks.

"Most of last year," Lynn says.

"Are you kidding me? How is that fair?" Christina asks.

"Well it isn't about fair Christina, it's about doing your best. Working hard because you know where you belong," Lynn says.

"No it's not," Christina starts to raise her voice. "If it was fair Lynn you would have helped all of us. But no it just happens to be the girl who is dating a Dauntless leader that you help. She always acts so helpless and every one falls all over her but she isn't weak, she is manipulating all of you. I wouldn't have had Eric pick on me if Tris hadn't faked being weak and pissed him off."

"That's not true Christina and you know it," I say. "You gave up all by yourself. We were told we couldn't concede and you did. How is that my fault? You have been nothing but nasty ever since we got here."

"Well what do you expect Tris. You are just little miss perfect. Everyone is just falling all over you, even him," Christina yells and points to Tobias.

I can't believe she is saying all this. Where did all this come from? I thought we were friends but the way Christina is speaking I think she hates me.

"You are so out of line Christina," Lynn says. She has stood up and I see she has her hands rolling into fists. "Every night Tris has asked you to train with us but noooo you are 'too busy' to actually join us. You have no idea of the relationships any of us have because you are never around. You are too busy trying to get laid by Will and if you're not doing that your off shopping. Are you yelling at Edward? He trained for years before he got here, why don't you go over and give him some shit? You want all the attention to be on you all the time. You are always interrupting people and breaking into others conversations. You are just jealous."

"I think everyone should just calm down a bit," says Uriah. "Have some cake and chill."

Uriah stands up and puts a hand on Lynn's shoulder and she starts to sit down. I think the rest of us are too shocked to say anything. I don't think Lynn has spoken that many words in a day before let alone all at once.

"Christina I think it might be better if you sit somewhere else," Marlene says. I didn't expect that from Marlene she loves everybody. But I do think it's a good idea. I can't believe all this is happening.

Christina looks around the table, I don't know why, maybe to see if anyone will ask her to sit but they don't. "Come on Will," Christina says. As they start to walk off she calls to Al, "aren't you coming?" Al looks at everyone at the table and then at Christina and Will. I can see he is torn but he hasn't ever been part of our group and it isn't a surprise when he follows Christina.

"So what did I miss?" Rita says as she sits down.

"You missed the bitch fight of the century," Uriah says. "It would have been better if fists had been used but for once Lynn used her words instead of her fists and it was scary."

We all laugh a little at this and then Marlene catches Rita up on what had happened.

"Are you okay?" Tobias asks me.

"I think so. I didn't realise that she was jealous of me. I don't really understand it," I say. "I don't like seeing her that upset."

"Don't you dare make up with her Tris," Lynn says. "She doesn't deserve you as a friend. You have worked hard for what you have. She wouldn't understand the word. She thinks Dauntless is all fun and games. Wait till she is a fence guard, then she will be begging to go back to Candor."

"She's right," Tobias says. "Ignore her, she isn't worth it."

"Are we training tonight?" Uriah asks.

"I think I'm going to take the night off," I say. "Can we spend some time together?" I ask Tobias.

"Yeah. Do you want to meet in our spot?" Tobias asks.

"That would be nice," I say.

Edward and Myra have just reached our table along with Zeke and Shauna. Everyone sits down and Zeke starts asking questions about what happened.

"How do you know there was an incident?" I ask.

"Well my little friend," Zeke starts. I just want to groan at his little comment. "I am the all seeing Zeke. Working in the control room has its privileges, I just couldn't hear what was being said because of all the background noise in here."

"Well to sum it up quickly," Lynn says. "Christina is jealous of Tris and so I gave her a piece of my mind and Marlene told her to go find a different place to eat. So now our meal times can be peaceful and we shall all live happily ever after while Christina blames the world for her all her problems."

"Wow Lynn. Who knew you could talk so much," Shauna says.

"That is nothing Shauna," Tobias says. "Lynn gave Christina an absolute beat down just with words before you got here."

"Alright this is just too weird. The two people who usually only talk if they have too are both really chatty tonight," Zeke says with a smile on his face.

"Bro you weren't here. Christina was way out of line. Even after Tris had words with her she just kept going. I thought Lynn was going to jump the table and beat her but instead she just said what we had all been thinking since she got here. She has been totally different to the person she was at school," Uriah says.

"That's not entirely true Uriah," Marlene says. "She still just wants to talk about shopping and boys. It's just that it isn't the most important thing we need to think about right now. Christina just hasn't worked that out yet."

"Well we are outta here," Tobias says. "See you all tomorrow."

Everyone says their goodbyes and Tobias and I walk out of the dining hall.

* * *

Tobias and I are sitting by our spot at the bottom of the chasm. The sound of the water is soothing after the day I have had.

"How are you really feeling Tris?" Tobias asks.

"Confused, angry upset," I say. "I can't believe Christina. I thought she would be happy for me; I didn't know she could be like that."

"Dauntless training can do weird things to people. Not everyone is cut out for it," Tobias says. "Maybe once initiation is over she will calm down. Then maybe you can be friends again."

"I don't know Tobias," I say. "Do I really want someone like that around me? If I can't trust her, I would find it really hard to be around her."

"Today didn't turn out the way I thought it would," I say.

"You should be proud of yourself Tris. You did really well in your fight. Should of heard Max talking about it, you would have thought you were his daughter the way he was carrying on," Tobias says.

"What about Eric?"

"What about him?"

"He is so angry with me right now. You told me to watch out for him and I don't know," I say. "Do you think he will try to retaliate?"

"I don't think so. Eric is a lot of things but when he calms down he will probably respect you more," Tobias says.

"Respect me?"

"I know it sounds strange. But when it comes down to it, Eric will respect that you were willing to put the hard work in to be the best you could be. That is why he is so hard on initiates, he actually wants them to succeed, to work harder. He isn't a very nice person most of the time but he knows how important it is that we train you to be able to defend yourself. He doesn't want members to get hurt because they weren't trained properly," Tobias says.

"I didn't think of it like that," I say.

"No I think we all forget that sometimes. I don't like him and I don't like his training methods but in the end he does get the job done. Although sometimes I want to throw knives at him myself," Tobias says.

"Feeling better?" he asks.

I nod my head yes. "I know something that could make me feel even better," I say.

"Really?" Tobias asks. "What would that be?"

I stand up and move onto Tobias's lap. "This," I say and I kiss him. I can feel him smiling into the kiss. I needed this. Not just the time with Tobias but the time out from everything else that has happened today.

* * *

Fights have continued. I don't know what is going on with Eric but both Edward and I got to sit out one round of the fights. I thought for sure that he would have me fighting as much as possible. I have beaten Drew, Molly and Will. I hated having to go up against Will, especially with all the drama that has unfolded with Christina. But I wasn't going to back down because of what happened. I still need a good ranking if I want to get into the top five and pick my own job.

Myra has improved so much. She actually beat both Al and Christina. But lost to Drew. The fight with Christina was epic. I think it was one of the longest fights I have seen. In the end Myra had worn Christina down and that was because she has been training so hard every night. The fight with Al was just pathetic, Al hasn't won a fight since the fight with Will. Al just doesn't fit in here and it is showing in everything he does.

It has been a week since the argument with Christina and she still won't talk to me or any one in our group. I feel disappointed that it has worked out this way. I feel sorry for Christina more than anything. She hasn't won a fight and I can see that her relationship with Will isn't as strong as we all thought. Will has spoken to me, he doesn't like what happened but he is Christina's boyfriend and although he doesn't agree with her he feels he has to support her. I think she is lucky she has someone like Will, I just hope her bitterness doesn't ruin that too.

Most of my time away from training is spent with our group and we are usually either in the dining hall or in the training room. Of course if I'm not with these guys I am with Tobias. I can't wait for initiation to be over and then we can spend more time together. Some nights we even have Zeke, Shauna and Tobias come in and train with us. These nights are usually a lot of fun. Just like last night was.

Uriah and Zeke have this bet going that Uriah won't outrank Zeke. Zeke came in sixth when he went through initiation and Uriah reckons he is going to beat that no problem. So the two of them decided to have a contest.

"Okay so you each get five knives," Tobias says.

"Can we join in?" Lynn says.

"Why not?" Tobias says. "Anyone else?"

"Yeah I will," I say.

"Zeke you are going to go down buddy," Tobias says laughing.

"You should have more faith in your best friend Four," Zeke says.

"There is no way you are going to beat all three of them," Tobias says.

"Thank you Four," Uriah says. "See Zeke you are just setting yourself up for the loss."

"I only need to beat you little brother," Zeke says.

"Yeah but you won't," Uriah says.

"Okay enough talk," Tobias says. "Let's start."

"Lucky Four isn't competing Zeke," Uriah says.

"Yeah but it wouldn't just be you that gets beat then would it," Zeke says.

"Lynn you go first, those two aren't going to shut up long enough to throw any knives," Tobias says.

So the rules were that you had to hit the target in the head, neck, heart, elbow and knee. Lynn, and I hit all five spots. Uriah missed the knee by two millimetres. The arguments started with Zeke and Uriah again because Uriah had been beaten by two girls. Lynn and I just sat back and laughed at them while Marlene consoled Uriah and Shauna did her best to pump up Zeke before he took his throws.

"Come on Zeke," Tobias said. "Let's get this over with."

"Okay, ready to come in last Uriah?" Zeke teases.

"Bring it on Zeke," Uriah calls back.

We have all gone deathly silent. You could almost hear Zeke's heard pumping out of his chest. You could see how nervous he was. He stood still as he was about to throw his first knife. You could already see sweat forming on his forehead.

The first four shots hit their mark. I turned to look at Uriah and I could see that he was starting to get nervous too.

Zeke lined up his shot but just as he was letting go of the knife he sneezed and the knife missed the target altogether.

"Ha ha, burn Zeke, burn," Uriah shouts.

"No way. I sneezed. I get to take the throw again," Zeke says.

We are all laughing at him and Zeke looks at Tobias who just shakes his head no.

"You are supposed to be my best friend," Zeke yells at Tobias. "You're supposed to have my back. You can't let me lose to Uriah."

"Sorry Zeke," Tobias says. "Better luck next time." Tobias is laughing with us.

"There will be a next time Uri," Zeke says and goes over and gives his brother a hug and he runs his knuckles over Uriah's hair.

"Get of me," Uriah says. We are all laughing at the two of them.

Zeke lets him go and we are still laughing at the two brothers.

"So Tris I think you and I have bragging rights," says Lynn.

"I think you are right. Next time maybe we should bet them a piece of dauntless cake," I say.

"Hell no," Uriah says. "I'm not betting cake against you two."

This just has us all laughing again. We have had a really fun night. The fights are finally over and next we just have to get through our assessments with knives, guns and our fitness. Then stage one will be finished and we will get to see where we are ranked. Only four more weeks and we can call ourselves Dauntless members. Only four more weeks until I can finally move in with Tobias.


	33. Chapter 33

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

TOBIAS POV

"Hey Gus," I call out as I walk into the control room.

"What can I do for you Four?" Gus asks.

"I need to borrow Zeke for a few hours today and Friday," I say.

"You better be going to give me a couple more employees at job choosing Four," Gus says.

"How many do you need?" I ask.

"Minimum two. More would be good," he says.

"I will get you two, if there is anyone else suitable I will try and get you more. But I can't promise anything," I say.

"Thanks Four," Gus says.

I walk over to Zeke and tap him on the shoulder. Zeke looks up and smiles, he loves this time of year when he can get out of the control room for a few days.

"Ready to go?" I ask Zeke.

"You bet I am," Zeke says. "Bye Gus"

Gus just nods to him as we walk out the door.

"So, how are things with Tris?" Zeke asks.

"Good," I say.

"Good, good? Or really good?"

"Really good," I say. "I asked her to move in with me?"

"You did what!" Zeke sounds shocked.

"I asked her to move in with me," I say.

"Don't you think it's a bit soon?"

"Not really," I say. "Before I came here, when I lived with Tris's family. She spent more nights in my bed than her own. I don't like being apart from her."

"How does that happen in Abnegation?" Zeke asks.

"Trust me, we weren't a normal family by Abnegation standards."

"Sounds like it," Zeke says. "So how did you two get away with being together when you were so young?"

"Remember I told you about Marcus?" I say. Remembering the night that I told Zeke about Marcus almost gives me a headache. He and I got extremely drunk and I told him everything. Well almost everything. I left out the parts about Tris. It was just after initiation had finished and I had gone to see mum and dad. Seeing Tris that night was painful, so I went drinking with Zeke. Not being able to handle liquor had me spill my guts to Zeke.

"Well every time I saw him, that night I would get nightmares. I would be screaming the house down sometimes. The only way that I would calm down was if Tris was with me. Sometimes when they knew I had seen him, Tris would just come straight into y room and usually it would stop me from having the nightmares," I say.

"He really fucked you up didn't he?" Zeke says.

"He tried. But it didn't work the way he wanted it too. Not that I really know what he wanted."

"So where you a couple before you left Abnegation?"

"No. Tris has always been my best friend; I have known her since I was born. I didn't realise I felt that way towards her until I was fifteen. I couldn't tell her; I couldn't act on it. The Prior's had saved me. I couldn't disrespect them like that."

"Her dad worked it out first and told me that he would be happy for me to date her when we are older. Then Caleb worked it out. Tris heard Caleb and I talking the night before the Choosing Ceremony, which was embarrassing. Then Tris and I talked, agreed that she would follow in two year's time. We weren't a couple by the normal standard but there was an unspoken connection. Then Lynn started sending the notes between Tris and I. It is a lot easier to tell someone how you feel in a letter than it is face to face. Now she is here and it has all come together," I say.

"Man, that is going to be a great story to tell your grandkids," he says with a laugh. I can't help but to laugh with him.

"Thanks for telling me Four," Zeke says. "I know you don't like to talk about that stuff."

"You are the only person I have ever told Zeke. I trust you with my life, you know that right?"

Zeke grabs me in a man hug. "I do brother. I trust you with my life too," he says.

* * *

We reach the training room and I can see that Eric is about to start.

"The next two weeks you will be assessed on your ability to shoot, your knife throwing skills and you will be reassessed on your fitness levels," Eric says. "Today you will have one hour to practice throwing knives. If you hit the target perfectly then that will end your knife throwing assessment. If not, you will have the next two mornings to practice and then your assessment will be the day after."

"How is that fair? Christina says.

"Well Christina, do you really think it's fair to make people who have mastered knife throwing keep doing it? It is a waste of their time," Eric says.

I can hear Christina mumbling to herself. I wonder if she is regretting not training more.

"Do you have something else to say Christina?" I ask.

"No," she says.

"Well then stop the comments under your breath. Be happy we are giving you time to improve," I say.

"The rest of the week will consist of guns. With assessments at the end of each day," Eric says. "Get started."

"Eric I want anyone who completes the assessment today to spend the rest of the week with Lauren. She will send over anyone who still needs to complete their knife throwing assessment to you," I tell Eric.

"Couldn't you have given the rejects to Lauren? I don't know how I will last having to watch Al throw knives for the next three days. His shooting skills aren't much better. It is going to be a hell of a long week," Eric says.

"I'll talk to Al. He is the only initiate who is likely to become factionless," I say.

"Good, he doesn't deserve to be here," Eric says.

"Zeke's here to help. He will also be here Friday for you. Marty should be here in about an hour and he will be helping you all week," I say.

"Thanks," Eric says.

"Okay, I'll leave you with it. If you have any problems let me know. Try not to stab anyone," I say.

I walk over to where the initiates are throwing knives. I can see that Al is having a lot of trouble.

"Al I need you to stop throwing for me," I say. "We need to talk."

I walk away from the other initiates and can see that Al is following me. The others don't need to hear what I am about to tell him.

"Al I'm concerned at how you are fitting in here at Dauntless," I say. "If you don't start to improve you are going to become factionless. You are going to need to put a lot more effort in this week or we won't be able to let you stay."

"I understand," Al says. There is no emotion in his voice. It feels like he has already given up.

"Come on, I will give you some pointers on your knife throwing," I say.

* * *

I knock on Max's office door and enter.

"We have one initiate that we think is going to fail," I say as I sit across from Max.

"There is no way to pass him?" he asks.

"We can probably push him through to stage two. He did win one fight but his knife and gun skills are so bad that we would not allow him to be a fence guard," I say.

"See how he goes in his assessments this week and next. I would rather not fail him until the end of initiation because it is going to take Gus time to get all the video frames of training together to show the other leaders."

"I'll start getting the videos together. I can watch the training sessions while I do it. I think Gus will shoot me if I make him get the videos together. We are going to have to give him some more workers at job selection," I say.

"How many did you promise him?" Max asks.

"Two. I couldn't guarantee any more for him," I say.

"That's reasonable," Max says.

"I thought so," I say. "I better go I have a lot of video footage to go through."

"Oh wait Four. Jeanine rang me. She has invited our initiates to Erudite," Max says.

"Why would she do that?" I ask. "This isn't normal."

"I know. But it might be a good idea to do it," Max says.

"Jeanine made a point of inviting Lauren and Eric as well," Max says.

"Why would she do that?" I ask.

"I'm not sure. But I am not having Lauren go back to Erudite," Max says. "So I want you to go in her place."

"Okay. But why wouldn't Lauren want to go back?"

"Let's just say that the fear landscape she lets the initiates see, well, it doesn't show all her fears," Max says.

I understand what he is saying. Obviously she left Erudite for reason that are personal to her. I wouldn't want people to know my secrets, so I don't want to know what hers are.

"I will make time in the schedule for the initiates to take the trip," I say. "Did Jeanine say when she was available for this?"

"She was extremely accommodating. She said she will clear her schedule for us," Max says.

I raise an eyebrow.

"Just be careful while you are there. Watch Eric. I am sure this is the reason why we have been invited. There is something going on, I just wish I could work it out," Max says.

* * *

"Back again Four. Come to help out have you?" Gus asks.

"I have. Max needs video footage of an initiate that may fail. So I said I would come down here and do it," I say.

"It's not Kat is it?"

"No, your sister is safe Gus," I say.

"She won't be in the bottom five will she?"

"You know I can't tell you that," I say. "Why? Would you like her to work here with you?"

"That's not a bad idea. She knows what to do so I wouldn't have to train her," he says.

"Have you been training dependants Gus?"

"No. She stays here with me for a couple of hours in the afternoon. With mum and dad being gone I have to look after her. When she finishes her homework she helps me out," he says.

"Fair enough. I will put a word in for her."

I sit watching the knife assessments going on. Tris, Edward, Peter and Myra will be training with Lauren for the rest of the week. Ash, Blade (oh the irony), Mel and Josh will join Eric. Al has started to hit the target. He better do better in the gun assessments.

I Hear a ping and look down at my computer and see I have an email and it says.

T

I am in trouble. You need to get me out here.

C

Fuck! What am I going to do. What has Caleb got himself into. I delete the email, there is no use trying to sending an email back. Caleb has sent the email from a public computer. I am going to have to try and wipe it from my system. Shit, this is not good. Dad warned him about going to Erudite. I need to get our visit to Erudite organised. I just hope I can see him while I am there.

TRIS POV

"Are you joining us for gun training Tris?" Uriah asks as I sit down for lunch.

"Yes," I say.

"Alright. You are going to enjoy training with us and the bonus is no Eric," Uriah says.

"That is definitely going to be a great bonus," I say. Not that I have had too much trouble with Eric. If you don't count him wanting to throw knives at me. I bet Al wishes he was in our group.

"I think I might need to come and hang out with you guys too," says Zeke.

"Yeah that won't be happening Zeke," Tobias says.

"I'm on my way back to the control room anyway," says Zeke. "Are you in the control room this afternoon Four?"

"Yeah, I need to pull up some video footage," Tobias says.

* * *

"Okay I want to get this over with as soon as possible," Lauren says. "We are going to be timing you as you dismantle and reassemble your guns. So I want you to take some time to practice and when you are ready let me know and I will come and time you."

"Transfers you are going to be staying with us for the rest of the week. Therefore, if we can get through all the assessments by Thursday afternoon it means we can have some fun with the sniper rifles on Friday," Lauren says.

"Yes," Uriah and Lynn shout out.

"Sniper rifles?" I ask.

"The sniper rifle is the ultimate," Uriah says. "It is for far range shooting, very accurate. We only have a few people who are snipers in the faction. It is a real honour to become a sniper"

"And we don't often let initiates use them," says Lauren.

"That too," says Uriah.

"Okay let's get to work," Lauren says.

We are all pretty quick. For the bet Uriah decided we should just add up everyone's score and whoever has the shortest time overall will win this round. I decided to just bet on myself in the end. It was easier after watching Zeke and Tobias arguing over it.

Training seems to go a lot quicker with the Dauntless borns. I think it has a lot to do with the joking around that they have. Lauren is really easy going and likes to have fun with the initiates. When we are all finished we start to use the hand guns. Lauren wants to get through as much as possible so we can try those sniper rifles.

* * *

Friday comes around so quickly and the excitement in our group today is electric. Tobias has joined us today.

"What are you doing here?" I ask Tobias.

"It's sniper rifles Tris. I wouldn't want to miss it. I didn't get the chance to use one until leadership training," Tobias says.

"So not many people get the chance to do this?" I ask.

"No. Usually only the best of the best get the opportunity to do this," Tobias says. "Along with leaders and a few other high ranking members of Dauntless. There has never been a situation where we have had to use a sniper. But we still need to have people who can do the job."

I wonder what situation we would have the use for them. I suppose it doesn't matter at the moment, I should just enjoy the chance to try.

We are all on top of the Dauntless compound. Tobias is explaining how to use the rifle he is doing this because he was the last to be trained on how to use it. Listening to him makes me think that it would have been so much better if he had been our instructor instead of Eric. He is watching how everyone reacts to what he is saying and if he thinks someone isn't grasping what he has said, then he repeats himself.

We are all lined up and ready to start shooting. The targets we are aiming for are three buildings away. You have to use the scope to be able to see the target they are so far away. We also have to think about the wind. Uriah is jumping around all over the place but as soon as we line up he calms down and you wouldn't know it was the same person.

I wouldn't say I am a bad shot but compared to Lynn and Edward I am pretty ordinary. Both are extremely good at this. Tobias is exceptional and hasn't looked like missing the target. I think Uriah has enjoyed this the most.

* * *

Our final fitness assessments have just been completed. Rankings for stage one will be announced tonight after dinner. I am sure I have done well. Thanks mainly to Lynn helping me before I got here. We are all sitting in the dining hall, dinner has been eaten and we are just wasting time before the announcement of the rankings come out.

I walk into the dormitory and I see I am the last to arrive. Eric is standing on a chair and explaining how the rankings were decided. I'm only half listening, wishing he would just turn the board so that I can see where I am ranked.

Eric turns the board and I read down the list;

Edward

Tris

Peter

Myra

Will

Molly

Christina

Drew

Al

Second, I knew I had done well but second, this is great news. I walk over to Edward and Myra, first and fourth is great news for them.

"How is that possible?" Molly yells. "How can Myra be fourth?"

"Did you not hear what I said?" Eric says. "Myra has shown improvement in every area. If you want to do well you need to work hard. We have been telling you to work hard for the last eight weeks."

"Let's go and see how the Dauntless born went," I say to Edward and Myra.

"Good idea," Edward says.

I link arms with Myra and we walk out the door.

We walk into the Dauntless borns dorm and Uriah, Lynn and Marlene are jumping up and down with Rita in the middle of them. I look up to the board on the wall and start reading;

Uriah

Lynn

Gabe

Marlene

Rita

Kat

Jett

Mel

Josh

Blade

Ash

I run over to the group and start jumping up and down with them. We have all done really well.

"How did you guys go?" Lynn shouts.

"I'm second, Edward is first and Myra fourth," I shout back.

We start to calm down and all sit on the floor and start laughing. You would think we just passed initiation but we still have two stages to go but I will think about that tomorrow. This feels way too good to worry about stage two right now.


	34. Chapter 34

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

TOBIAS POV

"Zeke," I call out as I see him walking across the Pit.

"Four," Zeke says. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure. I need your help," I say.

"Anything you need, you know that," he says.

"Okay can you come with me?" I ask.

"Sure," he says.

Zeke follow me to my apartment. I scan my hand on the scanner and then press the buttons I need to be able to have Zeke use his hand print to enter my apartment. I make Zeke scan his hand then test it to make sure that it has worked.

"Dude, what is going on?" Zeke asks.

"Just wait a minute," I say.

We walk in the apartment and I go and grab some beers from the fridge and we sit on the lounges. "I need to ask a really huge favour," I say.

"Okay," Zeke says. He sounds worried. I can't blame him. I never invite people to my home and now I have given him full access to it.

"I have to take the initiates to Erudite on Monday," I say.

"What for?"

"Jeanine Matthews has invited them. She is up to something and I'm not sure what it is. So, Max has told me to take the group so that we may be able to find out what is going on," I say.

"Anyway I got an email from someone. I'm not sure what is going on exactly but I think Caleb is in trouble," I say.

"Caleb? As in Tris's brother?"

"Yes," I say.

"So what do you need?" he asks.

"I need you to be in Erudite when we are there. But you can't be seen by Eric or any of the initiates. I need you to try and find Caleb for me. If he is in trouble then I need you to smuggle him out of Erudite and bring him back here to my place," I say.

"How the hell am I supposed to find him?" Zeke asks.

"I think he will try to contact Tris while we are at Erudite. If he is in trouble then he will try and get a message to me," I say.

"I will give you some extra Dauntless clothes to take with you. Have him change clothes and follow you out. No one will take any notice because we have twenty initiates walking around," I say.

"That shouldn't be too hard then," he says.

"There is also something else I need you to do. Remember we had that device made so that we could click a button and it would disable the feed to the security cameras?"

"Yeah, I've always wanted to try it out while I was working," he says.

"Well here is your chance. I need you to use the device while you are in Erudite. I can't have any video footage of him talking to you or leaving the building. I have organised with Gus to have the cameras in the leaders wing serviced Monday afternoon. That way no one will see you coming here when you bring him back," I say.

"What if the message wasn't from Caleb?"

"Then if he tells you he is safe, leave him there. No one will know about it and we can go back to our normal lives," I say.

"How am I going to stay close enough that I don't get seen by someone I know?" he asks.

"Zeke you will be fine. If Caleb does try to contact Tris I will have a diversion set up so you can follow him. Now here is a picture of Caleb. Keep it with you. I don't need you trying to smuggle the wrong person out of there," I say.

Zeke starts laughing. "It would be pretty funny if I did. Lucky the cameras will be off while we are doing this, I would hate to think what the person would do if it was the wrong person."

I can't help but laugh with him. I could just imagine Zeke scaring the crap out of some poor Erudite guy who has no idea what is going on and can't understand why this Dauntless is trying to get him to change clothes and go with him.

"Now, one more thing, and if you tell anyone what I am about to say, well I will kill you," I say.

"Geez Four, that's a bit harsh," Zeke says.

"The only way I can think that Caleb will trust you is to tell him that Tobias sent you," I say.

"Who the hell is Tobias?" Zeke says looking totally confused.

I glare at Zeke and raise my eyebrow.

"Holy shit. That's you!," Zeke says. I nod. "I knew that. From the Choosing Ceremony. It caused a big stink when you chose Dauntless. Wow, I had forgotten all about all of that. Okay I will not breathe a word of this to anyone. I suppose I don't have to ask you what your name is when we play Candor or Dauntless anymore."

"That's good. Maybe I can keep my shirt on for a few more rounds from now on. But if anyone asks you the question," I say.

'Yeah, yeah I know. Bottom of the chasm for me. I suppose I will have to start wearing layers," he says.

"If you don't tell them you know then they won't ask you," I say.

"True. I didn't think of that."

I just shake my head. I hope this plan works.

* * *

We jump off the train and make our way into the Erudite building. It is so cold and sterile compared to Dauntless. Everything is white and there are bright lights everywhere. I suppose they don't want their members having any eye strain with all the study they are expected to do.

We are in the foyer and we are getting a lot of strange looks from the people in blue. It makes me remember when I went through initiation and Amar had the dare to come to Erudite. He ran through the building mooning the occupants, I was so shocked at his antics. Since then I have been to a lot of dare games, mainly thanks to Zeke hosting the dare parties and they make Amar's dare seem so tame now.

"Okay you lot quieten down a bit," I say.

"I will go and find Jeanine," Eric says.

I shouldn't let him leave the group. This is probably the reason we are here. It's not like Jeanine can just walk up to Eric in Dauntless without it looking suspicious. I wonder what they are up to.

"Beatrice," I hear someone shout.

I turn around to see Caleb coming towards Tris. He quickly gives her a hug. He is whispering something in her ear and Tris is now pulling something out of his pocket. It must have been Caleb who sent me the message. I look around and see if I can see Zeke, hopefully he can see me and will know that I am looking for him.

"Mr Prior, Miss Prior," Jeanine says. "Do you not remember what the phrase 'faction before blood' means?"

I see a look of panic flash in Caleb's eyes. What is going on here?

"Sorry, I will go," Caleb says. Moving away very quickly.

"Lynn," I call her over to me. "I need you to do something to distract everyone for me."

"Now?" Lynn asks.

"Now," I say.

"You bastard," Lynn yells and then she punches Peter in the nose. Blood is spurting out and everyone has turned and are now looking at Lynn and Peter.

"What was that for you bitch?" Peter yells as he lunges towards Lynn. I better break this up before we have a riot on our hands.

I step in front of Peter. Stopping him from actually trying to inflict any damage on Lynn. Although if he tried I'm sure he wouldn't just have a bloody nose he would probably end up uncouncious on the floor.

"Call a medic," Jeanine says. She is talking to her assistant.

"What the hell Lynn?" Eric says.

"He pinched by butt," Lynn says.

"I did not," says Peter. "Why would I want to pinch your butt?"

"I suppose now you're not in Candor Peter you can lie all you like," Lynn says. Lynn definitely wouldn't be Candor.

"I will get you for this," Peter says.

"Enough," I say. "You are just embarrassing yourself."

"Eric why don't you stay here with Peter and Jeanine can show the rest of us around Erudite," I say.

"Yes that might be a good idea," Jeanine says. "You seem to have your hands full with the Dauntless initiates, don't you Four?"

"They do keep us on our toes Jeanine," I say.

"Well let's get this tour started," Jeanine says. "I'm sure medical attention will be here shortly."

I start walking next to Tris and she hands me something. I look down to see that it is a thumb drive. This must be what Caleb gave her. "Caleb's in trouble, we need to get him out of here," Tris says.

"Already being done," I say.

"What?"

"I will explain it all to you when we get home," I tell her.

"How did you know?"

"I got an email a few days ago. I didn't know for sure if it was him. But the look on his face today told me it was. I already had a plan in place," I say.

* * *

We get back to the Dauntless compound and I have Tris follow me back to my apartment. I rang Max when I was leaving Erudite so hopefully he will be here soon.

"Are you going to tell me what is going on?" Tris asks.

"As soon as we are in my apartment," I say.

We reach my apartment and Max is standing there waiting for me. I put my fingers to my lips to tell him not to say anything. We might not have the cameras working but you don't know who could be around.

I open the door and quickly usher everyone in.

"What is going on Four? I have had Jeanine on the phone ranting about what hooligans we have as initiates. Who is this?" Max says pointing to Caleb.

"Caleb," Tris says and rushes over to hug her brother.

"Caleb?," Max says. "As in Caleb Prior? What is he doing here Four? And why is he dressed in black?"

"Caleb do you want to explain?" I ask him. As I usher everyone into the lounge room to sit.

"The tracking serum that they are going to inject Dauntless with isn't a tracking serum," Caleb says.

"How do you know this?" Max asks.

"I have been working with Jeanine. As soon as I got to Erudite she took me under her wing. She doesn't usually have anything to do with training initiates. I was told that she hates having to deal with them, especially transfers. I thought that it was strange that she would do that for me. Especially after dad told me that I needed to be careful around her. I was in a meeting and someone let slip about how stupid Dauntless was and that they will get theirs when everything goes down," Caleb says.

"So I started to look into what was going on. Jeanine had given me access to computers that initiates don't usually get the chance to use. There is a real hierarchy there, you only get access as you progress further. So I took copies of what the serum really is and put it onto the thumb drive I gave to Tris. I thought that Jeanine was onto me but I couldn't just walk out, it would be to conspicuous," Caleb says.

"What is the serum they want to inject into our members?" Max asks.

"It's a long range serum. The person who has been injected can be manipulated to do whatever they program them to do," Caleb says. "Everything you need to know is on the thumb drive."

"What's going to happen to Caleb?" Tris asks.

"He is going to have to stay here for now," Max says. "He won't be able to leave this apartment until we have everything sorted. We can't afford to have him seen on cameras anywhere. We don't know who is working with Jeanine within Dauntless."

"Four we are going to have to get this information to Candor. They are going to have to be involved in this. Plus, we are going to have to look and see exactly what is on that thumb drive," Max says.

"We can go through the thumb drive this afternoon Max. Once I know what we are dealing with I will let you know. Then we can make a report for Candor," I say.

"I will meet you back here tonight," Max says. "Caleb do not leave this apartment."

Caleb just nods and Max walks out the door.

"I can't believe this is happening," Tris says. "Did you know of any of this?"

"Max and I had an idea that what Erudite had told us was I lie. But we haven't been able to prove anything, until now," I say.

"Caleb do you want to lie down, you look like you haven't slept in days," I say.

"No. I will help you go through the information first. Are you sure I will be safe here?"

"There isn't anywhere safer for you to be. Tris and I will never let anything happen to you Caleb. Ever," I say. "Now let's have a look at what is on that thumb drive of yours."

* * *

Max and Scott arrive at my apartment after dinner. "What is going on?" Scott asks.

I explain to Scott what has been happening and that I now know who is involved and what they have planned.

"So Vera and Graham both know what Jeanine is really doing? I can't believe this," Scott says.

"The information also implicates Eric and a few other lower ranking members," I say.

"Okay," Max says. "We are going to have to be extremely careful how we handle all of this. We need to get to Candor and talk to Jack Kang. But we need to do it without Vera getting wind of it. She likes to deal with Jack herself, so we are going to have to come up with an excuse why we want to see him."

"I will make up an excuse about the dependants. We had all that trouble with them mixing with other factions at lunch last year. I will say I am wanting to talk to him about what rights dependants have. Say we don't want a repeat of last year. It's lame but it might work," Scott says.

"That will work," Max says. "Go first thing in the morning. Don't make an appointment to see him. Just drop by, he won't refuse to see you. We just need to keep carrying on as if nothing is going on, once we know what Candor want to do with them, then we will act."

"Not a word of this can leave this room," Max says. "Jeanine is probably aware that she has an intitiate missing by now. So we need to move this along quickly. Are fear simulations starting tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I am going to monitor them from inside the room. I can't afford to have Eric terrorize the initiates," I say.

"Can't you just pull him out, let him go back to his normal job?" Scott asks.

"I don't want to make him suspicious," I say. "Look if he does anything wrong I will have him straight out of there."

* * *

"I'm going to go down to the dining hall and get us all some dinner," Tris says. "I think Caleb needs to try our Dauntless cake.

"What's so special about Dauntless cake?" Caleb asks.

"You'll see. I'll be back soon," Tris says.

"What's going to happen to me now Tobias?"

"I'm not sure," I say. "But for now you ae safe. There are only five people that know you are here."

"How is Beatrice going in initiation?" Caleb asks.

"Really well. She is coming second among the transfers," I say.

"How are you two getting along?"

"She's agreed to move in with me after initiation finishes," I say.

"I'm glad. I think you two were always meant to be together," he says. "You know I almost chose Dauntless."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I knew Beatrice was coming here and you are here. I could never have stayed in Abnegation. But I still hadn't made up my mind when we got to the Choosing Ceremony. It was the hardest decision I ever made. Then when I got to Erudite I found out that there is a program for doctors. They can work in other factions. I was going to try and get into the medical programme, then I could volunteer to work in Dauntless. I thought maybe I had made the right decision."

"Well if you hadn't made the decision you did then we would be in a whole lot of trouble in a couple of weeks time," I say.

"Do you think it will be safe to go back to Erudite after this?"

"I don't know Caleb," I say. "We will just have to wait and see. Dad's the leader of the council. I'm a leader here. I don't know what happens with Erudite initiation but I am sure that once this mess is worked out we can work something out for you," I say.

"Do you want to go back?" I ask.

"I don't know. I have been so scared ever since I first found out what Jeanine was planning. Then when I started to gather information I was sure I was going to be caught. I don't think I've slept for the past three weeks," he says.

"Well you can now. You are safe here Caleb. I won't let anything happen to you," I say. "I promise."

"Do you think I could see mum and dad?"

"Yeah. I can call them. Have them come here for dinner if you like?"

"That would be great," he says. "I thought they would have come and seen me on visiting day."

"They wanted to," I say. "Jeanine banned all Abnegation from Erudite. The only place they are allowed is the hospital and only if it is an emergency."

"I didn't know that. I thought they had forgotten about me," he says.

"As if that would ever happen. They love you," I say.

There is a knock at the door and I go and answer it. Tris has her arms full of take away boxes from the dining hall. I keep forgetting to give her access to the apartment. I help her to carry the food in and then I drag her back outside the apartment.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"Well if you are going to be living here you need to be able to open the door," I say. "Now put your hand on the scanner."

The scanner beeps and I check that she can open the door.

"Why the hurry now?" Tris asks.

"Well Caleb is here. I want you to be able to visit him whenever you like. Plus, I sought of let Zeke have access," I say.

"You sort of? What kind of answer is that?" Caleb asks.

"Okay, I did give Zeke access. Although I will have to cancel it. Otherwise he will be walking in whenever he wants," I say.

"You told him your name. Why?" Caleb asks.

"You did?" Tris asks.

"Yes. I knew it was the only way for Caleb to know he could trust him," I say.

"That's true, I remembered you telling us how you had changed your name. When he said Tobias had sent him, I knew I could trust him," Caleb says.

"Are you worried he will tell anyone?" Tris asks.

"No. I threatened him with death if he did. He already knew. He said that he knew but had forgotten about it," I say. "Now I think it is time for Caleb to try some Dauntless cake."

I hand Caleb a piece of cake and Tris and I just watch him as he is about to take a bite.

"Do you both have to stare at me like that?" Caleb asks.

"Yes," Tris and I say at the same time. We all just start laughing.

"This is just like it was when we were all living together," says Caleb.

"Just try the cake Caleb," Tris says.

"Okay, okay. Seriously, I don't understand why this is so important," Caleb says.

We watch as Caleb finally puts a piece in his mouth and we wait. And wait. He hasn't said anything, maybe he doesn't like it.

"Well?" Tris finally asks.

"Can I come and live here?" Caleb asks. "If I got to choose again. I would come here just for the cake.

Tris and I just laugh at him.


	35. Chapter 35

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

TOBIAS POV

All the initiates are sitting outside the fear simulation room. They are loud and rowdy this morning. That will all change for most of them after they have experienced their fear simulations. As the week goes on a small few will become despondent. The rest will most probably have nightmares, or won't be able to sleep. I understand why we do this; I don't really know if it is productive. I'm starting to think that maybe we should just give them their fear landscape and skip stage two altogether. Maybe it's because I don't want to watch Tris go through this.

"Today you will start a week of fear simulations. We will be injecting you with a serum that will let us see your fears. To move out of your fear and have the simulation stop you need to lower your heart rate and control your breathing," I say.

"We will be calling you up one at a time. Christina," I say. "You're first."

Christina and I walk into the room and Eric is standing by the computer. "Take a seat," I say

I inject Christina and move so I can see the screen.

I watch as Christina is being led by Eric across the Pit. Her fellow initiates are following behind. We reach the chasm and Eric is telling her to climb over the railing. I can see Christina's heart rate is going up quicker than I would expect. Once she is holding on to the railing her heart rate starts to get dangerously high.

"Eric, you need to pull her out," I say.

"She'll be fine," he says.

"No," I say. "Pull her out now."

"Four she can handle this," he says.

"Move," I say. Eric stands still blocking me from turning the simulation off. "I won't tell you again. Now move!"

I reach over and turn the simulation off. Christina wakes up and she is crying.

"Christina," I say. I am trying to speak calmly to her but I am extremely pissed at Eric at the moment.

"What I just saw in your simulation, did that really happen?" I ask. I hear Eric scoff.

"Yes," Christina says.

"Christina I want you to leave through this back door. No one will see you and you can go back to the dorms. Okay?" I say.

"Okay," she says. Christina gets up and walks out of the room.

"I can't believe you held an initiate over the chasm," I shout. "What is wrong with you?"

"Don't act so surprised Four. She is a coward. We don't want cowards in this faction," he says.

"That is the answer you are going to give me?" I ask. "You don't see anything wrong with what you did?"

"There is nothing wrong with what I did. She deserved it, end of story," he says.

"Get out," I say. "I don't want to see you back in here. I will take over the simulations and you can go back to IT."

"You just want to protect them," Eric says.

"Protect who?" I ask. I know exactly what he is talking about. He thinks I am trying to protect whoever is divergent and I am. I just act like I have no idea what he is talking about.

"It doesn't matter Four," he says. "This isn't over; you can't just kick me out of my job. You need all five leaders to agree."

"I can suspend you Eric. I don't need to have all five leaders agree on that. So for now we will say you are suspended," I say. He isn't even going to be a part of this faction in a few more days. Once we get the information to Candor he will be looked at as a traitor and he could even be executed for it.

"Fine," Eric says. "But I will fight you on this. I can promise you that."

"You do that Eric," I say to his back as he storms out the door. He slams the door shut.

I walk out of the sim room and address the initiates. "Training has been cancelled for the day. Go and enjoy yourselves."

* * *

I walk into Max's office. "I just kicked Eric out of the simulation room," I say.

"What happened?"

"The first initiates fear was of Eric making her hang over the chasm. I had to bring her out of the sim, afterwards she told me it really happened."

There is a knock at the door, we both look up to see Graham standing there.

"Just the person I wanted to see," Graham says. "You can't suspend Eric."

"I can and I have," I say.

"You need all five leaders to agree," he says.

"No he doesn't," Max says. "Only if we are terminating his employment. Which we aren't doing that, yet."

"You have always hated him Four. This is personal. You have no right," Graham says.

"I might not like Eric but I wouldn't let it affect my work. This is about Eric's behaviour. I won't tolerate it any more. Once initiation is over I will show you what he has been doing. I have video evidence. For now, he is suspended and that is that. End of conversation," I say.

"I'm not going to let this go," Graham says and walks out the door.

"You won't have a choice," Max says once Graham is far enough away for him not to hear.

"Did Scott get away alright?" I ask.

"Yeah. He called me when he got there. Which was about an hour ago. I will find you once he is back and we can meet at your place to go over what we need to do," Max says. "Will you be in the fear sims all day?"

"No. I cancelled them and gave the initiates the day off. I need to find Christina and see if she is okay. Then I will go back to my apartment. I will be at home the rest of the day," I say.

"When Scott gets back we will come straight to your place then," Max says.

* * *

I walk into the transfers dormitory. Tris isn't here so she is either with Caleb or Lynn. I see Christina lying on her bed. Will is with her but they aren't touching like they normally would be.

"Christina" I say. "I came to see how you are."

"I'm okay," she says. But she doesn't sound like she is okay.

"Why didn't you tell me what he did?" I ask.

"I don't know. So much happened that day and I just wanted to forget about it," she says.

"Eric has been suspended. So he won't be in the sim room anymore. I don't know if that will help you to get through your fears but I'm hoping it will."

"Thanks," she says.

"Look, if you need anything let me know. If you can't find me then go up to the leader's offices. There is a guy named Josh who will know where to find me," I say. I am actually feeling sorry for her at this moment. She pushed her friends away and now she really needs someone. Will doesn't seem to be helping her, what is up with that?

"Training will start again at eight tomorrow morning. Just rest for the day Christina," I say. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I walk out of the dorm feeling bad. I don't know if I should tell Tris what is happening. Christina could use a friend right now. I just don't know. Tris would help her no matter what. She wouldn't be able to help herself. But do I want to put Tris in that situation?

* * *

Caleb, Tris and I are all sitting on the lounges laughing. We have been reminiscing about our childhood. It's nice to have us all back together. I am about to say something when I hear a knock at the door.

"Come in," I say to Max and Scott after I have opened the door.

"We have a lot to discuss," Scott says.

We walk into the lounge room and Scott puts a lot of documents on the coffee table.

"So I talked to Jack and he wants us to handle the arrests of any Dauntless members that we think are involved. He wants them to be brought to Candor as soon as possible," Scott says. "He has written up the arrest warrants for all that we gave him names of. On each one is the charges that they are going to be facing."

"What about Jeanine and Erudite?" I ask.

"That is a little trickier. I agreed to let Candor use our special forces team to go into Erudite. Along with Candor and Dauntless security teams. There are over fifty names on that list for Erudite members. It could take days to find all of them. Once we get inside the building it is going to be easy for members who are guilty to run."

"No that won't be a problem," Max says. "I am able to lock down Erudite. A few years ago it was agreed that all factions have a lock down procedure in place. The factionless were getting out of hand and people started to worry that they would try to overthrow one of the factions for themselves. So Erudite, Candor and Dauntless can lock down their buildings. Amity refused and it would have been impossible to lock them down anyway. Abnegation would only allow their main building to be locked down."

"So when does this all happen?" I ask.

"Tonight at eight," Scott says.

"I will go to Erudite," Max says. "Once we are in the building I will lock it down."

"Four and I will coordinate the Dauntless arrests," Scott says. "We will need to arrest Graham and Vera as close to eight o'clock as we can. We don't want them getting wind of what is happening."

"Should we lock down Dauntless?" I ask.

"I think we should," Max says. "It won't be for long. We have thirteen people to arrest. Most members won't even realise what we have done. We won't announce it; you can move in on your targets quickly. Most people are going to either be at home or in the Pit."

"Four I think you should be in the control room. Have someone you trust working with you and you can search the crowds in the Pit. It will still be early by Dauntless standards, so you can tell the arresting officers where people are," Scott says. "You will need to escort them all to Candor once the arrests are made. There is going to be a mountain of paperwork to fill out."

"Where do you want to be Scott?" Max asks.

"I want to be the one to arrest both Graham and Vera. I will arrest Graham first. I have hated every minute working with that bastard," Scott says. "I'm still shocked at Vera but she has always been unpredictable. I will be interested to see what she says under truth serum."

"I am going to give the initiates the next two days off," I say.

"I can have Lauren do the simulations Four," Max says.

"No, I think it would be better if I did them," I say. I don't know who I can trust and I need Tris and Uriah to be safe. Who knows what Erudite will be like without Jeanine. "With everything that is going on I think it would better if I do them. I want to make sure it all runs smoothly."

"If that's what you want," Max says. "The sooner we can get initiation finished the better. One less problem we are going to have."

"We need to talk about leadership too," Scott says.

"Well for now there is an odd number. I would rather wait on making a decision, it is important that we think seriously about this. Let's all think about it and we can have a conversation about it before job choosing," I say.

Scott nods his head and Max says, "I agree. Let's just get all this other shit out of the way."


	36. Chapter 36

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

TRIS POV

"Tris," someone is calling my name.

"Tris, wake up."

"Tris." I turn over to see who is calling my name. I open my eyes and Max is standing over me.

"What is going on?" I ask.

"It's Four," Max says. "I need you to come with me."

I jump out of bed, putting my shoes on and I run to catch up to Max who has already run out the door.

"What happened?" I ask as I'm running next to Max.

"I have no idea. I woke to Caleb banging on my door. All he would tell me was that I needed to get you and to hurry, that there was something wrong with Four," Max says.

A nightmare I think. It would be the only reason.

We reach the leaders wing and Max says, "do you want me to come in?"

"No, if I need you I will come get you," I say. "Go back to sleep Max."

"Thanks Tris," Max says. I can hear how tired he is in his voice. Today must have been hard on him with all the arrests.

As soon as I open the door I can hear Tobias screaming. I wonder what has set this off? He told me he hadn't had many nightmares lately and if he did they weren't bad.

I run into his room and he is thrashing about in bed. I haven't seen him this bad since the first few weeks he lived with us.

I walk over and sit on the bed. I start to run my fingers through his hair. You can't just wake him up when he is this bad. Now that he is older and so much stronger I would hate to see his reaction if he was woken.

I keep running my fingers through his hair and whispering for him to calm down, that it is all going to be okay. He stops screaming and the thrashing is becoming less. I hate having to see him like this. It breaks my heart. I really thought he was in a better place. Something has had to trigger him for this to be so bad.

Finally, he has stopped thrashing and is now just whimpering. I lay down next to him. He is drenched in sweat and the sheets are soaked as well. "Tobias," I say as I keep playing with his hair.

"Tobias, I need you to open your eyes," I say. He grabs hold of me and brings me closer to him.

"Please Tobias, open your eyes," I say.

"No please just let me hold you," he whispers. He sounds so broken.

"Tobias you are soaked; the bed is soaked. I want you to get up so I can make you feel more comfortable," I say. I know he will feel better once he has had a shower and I can change his sheets.

He grips me even tighter to him. It feels like he is frightened if he lets me go I will disappear.

"Tobias please?" I say. "If you get up now I will stay the night."

"You promise Tris? Promise me you will never leave me?" He asks.

"I promise Tobias," I say. He slowly opens his eyes and I can see the pain in them. He lets me go and he rolls onto his back. He looks exhausted.

"Where did this come from?" I ask.

Tobias just shakes his head. I understand he isn't ready to talk about it yet.

"How is he?" Caleb asks from the doorway.

"I'll be fine Caleb," Tobias says. He doesn't sound very convincing.

"How did Max find out?" I ask Caleb.

"I went and knocked on his door. Told him to get you," he says.

"Caleb you could have been seen," I say.

"I know but I didn't know what else to do. You saw what he was like," he says with panic in his voice.

"I need to talk to Zeke," Tobias says.

"Now?" I ask.

"He is in the control room tonight. We need to delete the footage of Caleb in the hall way," Tobias says.

"I will go and see him while you have a shower," I say.

Tobias starts to move off the bed and I can see just how exhausted he really is. He can hardly move. "Do you want some help," I ask him.

"No, just go and get Zeke to get rid of the footage. After tonight we don't know if anyone in Erudite are monitoring our footage," Tobias says.

"They can do that?" Caleb asks.

"They aren't supposed to but they can. I don't trust Erudite; we don't know if we got all of Jeanine's followers yet. Better to be safe," Tobias says.

He stumbles toward the bathroom.

"Caleb can you change his sheets while I am away. I will be as quick as I can," I say.

"Where does he keep them?" Caleb asks.

"I have no idea," I say. "Just check some cupboards. I'm sure you will find them."

* * *

"Zeke," I say as I tap his shoulder.

"Tris, what are you doing here?"

"Long story. Short version is that Caleb escaped the apartment. Tobias asked me to come down here and ask you to delete the footage," I say.

"Sure I can do that. What happened?"

"Caleb needed to talk to Max so he went to his apartment," I say. I don't want to explain what happened. He doesn't need to know.

"Where is Four?"

"At home. It is a long story that I really don't want to go into Zeke," I say.

"Does this have anything to do with it?" he says.

Zeke brings up footage onto his screen. Tobias is there with a number of Dauntless guards and it looks like they are escorting some others in hand cuffs.

"What is this?"

"It's the Candor jail. Keep watching."

I watch as they walk past numerous cells. Most are empty. Then I see him.

"Have you got sound?" I ask.

"Yes, here put these on," Zeke says. He hands me a set of headphones. I put them on.

"You can't ignore me forever Tobias," Marcus is shouting. "I am still your father."

Tobias keeps walking as Marcus keeps shouting at him. Not once does Tobias look at Marcus. I don't need to see anymore so I take the headphones off. "You can stop the video Zeke," I say.

"I've got to get back. Thank you for this," I say.

"Is he okay?"

"He will be," I say as I walk out the door. I don't know if he will but I won't be telling anyone that.

* * *

"Isn't he out of the shower yet?" I ask Caleb as I walk into the bedroom. Caleb is still making the bed. It must have taken him a while to find the sheets.

"No, I thought I heard sobbing in there. But I didn't feel comfortable going in there," Caleb says.

"I'll go," I say. "I found out what triggered him. He saw Marcus at the jail. When you are finished just go back to bed."

"You don't want any help?"

"No. It could be a long night. No use all of us being sleep deprived," I say.

"It's just like being back at home," Caleb says.

"It is," I say.

I walk into the bathroom and Tobias is sitting on the floor of the shower the water washing over him as he cries. I quickly take my clothes off and enter the shower. Not the way I was hoping to spend my time in a shower with Tobias I am thinking. I shake my head; I can't believe I just thought that.

I crouch down in front of him. "Tobias," I quietly say.

He looks up at me and quickly pulls me down and holds me to him.

"It's okay Tobias, it is all going to be okay," I say.

"How can you say that Tris? Look at me, I'm a mess," Tobias says.

"Yeah well you're my mess," I say with a small smile. "This is because you saw him tonight, isn't it?"

"How did you know?"

"Zeke just showed me the footage from Candor," I say.

I reach up and get the soap and start to wash him. He doesn't stop me and he doesn't try to help. I don't think he has the energy to do it. "Tobias, I need you to get out of here before the water turns cold," I say.

He just shakes his head. He looks like he could fall asleep at any moment. I walk out of the shower, wrap a towel around myself and walk back over to Tobias. I turn the taps off and wrap a towel around him. I start to dry him off.

"Tobias I need you to stand up so I can finish drying you," I say. I hold out my hand and he lets me help to pull him up. "I can do the rest," he says.

"I'll go and get you some clothes," I say.

I get Tobias some clothes and I decide I will take an extra shirt, so I have something to sleep in. I just wear my clothes in the dormitory. I'm not comfortable with a room full of people seeing me in my pyjamas. I walk back into the bathroom and Tobias is drying his hair with a towel. I give him his clothes and we both get dressed.

My hair is soaked so I start to dry it off with my towel. It will just have to stay damp tonight. I need to get Tobias back to bed and he isn't going to go without me lying next to him.

"Come on," I say as I grab his hand and lead him back into the bedroom.

We hop into bed and I put my back to his chest so he can hold me. It was always like this when we were kids. He always needed to hold me after he had one of his nightmares.

"How can you stand to be here with me?" he whispers.

"What do you mean?"

"Look at me I'm so weak and pathetic," he says.

"No you are not. You have never been weak, ever."

"I couldn't even look at him Tris. And look what just hearing his voice has done to me," he says.

"Tobias I don't think it was just hearing his voice that has made this happen," I say. "You, Caleb and I sat around talking about our childhood for a long time today. I'm sure that even though we were only talking about the happy times, it would have stirred up other emotions as well. Hearing Marcus just sent you over the edge."

"Maybe," he says. "Do you ever think I will be free of it?"

"I don't know but I do know that I will always be here if you aren't," I say.

"I love you Tris. I don't think you will ever be able to understand just how much," he says.

"I don't need to understand it. Just know that I love you too Tobias," I say. "Now try and get some sleep."

* * *

 _Hello friends, followers and reviewers. So I just wanted to tell you that this is my favorite chapter in this story. And that is because it was never supposed to be in the story. As I was about to start writing this chapter this idea popped into my head and so I just went with it. I usually have my chapters carefully planned out but I thought this idea was important. I know it is a sad chapter but I hope you enjoy reading it. As always thank you for all your support and happy reading._


	37. Chapter 37

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

TOBIAS POV

It has been two days since my nightmare breakdown. Tris has stayed with me the whole time. I hate having her worry about me so much, but I'm glad she does. I know she plans on going back to the dorms tonight, I hate the idea of her being there and it's not because of my nightmares. It is less than a week until initiation will be over and then she can move in.

Caleb is still here, Erudite have put out a missing persons alert for him. Mum and dad know where he is because they came for dinner the other night. They all just have to pretend to act worried and concerned in front of others. Tris finds this extremely difficult but it will only be for a short time. The trials will start next week.

Today we are starting the fear simulations again. We are going to have the initiates go through two a day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. It isn't going to be much fun for them but it will make it all go quicker. We are just going to have three days of fear simulations. Then they will get a day off and then we will have their fear landscapes.

"Christina," I call her into the simulation room.

I can see the dread on her face as she goes to sit in the chair. I never did tell Tris what happened in here that day. Maybe one day Tris and Christina will be friends again and Christina can tell her.

"If you get the same fear as last time I am going to get the computer to skip over it. You might not get the fear again, especially now that Eric isn't here but I can't promise it," I say.

"I understand," she says. There seems to be a spark that has left Christina lately. It's sad really, as much as I hate her insistent chatter I don't like to see her this way.

"If the fear does come back, you are going to have to face it at some point. If not in here than you will have to face it in the fear landscape. So I want you to think about how you might be able to get past it."

Christina just nods and I inject her with the serum.

I move over to the computer screen and I watch. Where her fear of Eric had been horrible to watch, well this fear has me ready to roll on the ground laughing. Moths. At first it is funny because there are only a few but as the simulation goes on there are hundreds of them. I look at the time at the bottom of the screen, she has been in here for ten minutes. I hope she can start to calm herself soon.

Eventually Christina gets through it and I can start moving through the other initiates. I am over half way done for the morning when Uriah bounces into the room. I hope he is this positive once this is over.

"Hey Four," Uriah says.

"Hi Uriah. You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," he says as I inject him.

I watch on the screen and I can't help but actually laugh at him. Thankfully he is only in there for six minutes. As he wakes up I look at him and say, "really?"

"What do you mean?"

"You are afraid of the kitchen running out of Dauntless cake?"

"I would think you would understand my fear Four," he says.

I start to laugh; I just can't help myself.

"You can't tell anyone can you?" he asks, extremely seriously.

"No Uriah. Your secret is safe with me," I say.

"Good. Could you imagine the shit Zeke would give me if he knew," he says. This just makes me laugh more.

"See, look at how you are reacting he will be a hell of a lot worse that you," he says.

"I wasn't laughing at you Uriah. I was laughing at the thought of how Zeke would react."

"Oh, okay. I'll see you later Four," Uriah says and he bounces back out. Probably wanting to get to the dining hall as quickly as possible so he doesn't miss out on his cake.

* * *

"How are the fear simulations going Four," Zeke asks.

Uriah looks over to me, I can see the worry etched on his face.

"You know I can't discuss them with you Zeke," I say.

"I know that. But you could at least tell us all what some of the fears are," he says.

"No, not going to happen. If anyone wants to tell you what their fear is then they can but I'm not going to tell you anything."

"Come on Four, we could do with a good laugh," Shauna says.

"Not happening. You have seven initiates sitting at the table, ask them yourself," I say.

I look around the table and there are seven heads all shaking their heads no at us. "There, I think you have your answer," I say.

"Oh well. So what's happening with the trials?" Zeke says.

"They have started with the lower level members of Erudite. They arrested sixty-five of them. Jack thinks it will take all week to get through what they have to say. Then they will start on the ten Dauntless members. Once they are all done they will start on all the leaders," I say.

"Are we able to go?" Shauna asks.

"Yeah, they are all open to the public," I say.

"Are you going?" Zeke asks.

"I have to be there for the leader's interrogations. I have also told Jack to tell me when Eric's will be. I really want to see what Eric has to say," I say.

"What do you think will happen to them?" Lynn asks.

"It will depend on what they are found guilty of. I think a lot of people will be found not guilty because they were just following their leader's instructions," I say.

"Including Eric?" Shauna asks.

"I have no idea when it comes to Eric. There have been moments where he has shown he can be nice. He treated Tris well in training sometimes and then he acted horribly towards others. I have to wonder what is really going on with him," I say. "I just hope we get everyone who is guilty. As for anyone else, I feel sorry for them. This will stay with them for a long time after it is all finished. They will always be remembered for having to go on trial."

* * *

I spend the afternoon going through all the initiates fears again. I can't believe some of what I have to see. There are the usual fears like heights and afraid of the dark. But then we get to some of the stranger ones like clowns and snowmen. Then there are the ones that I haven't seen before like flowers and beards.

Tris has the quickest times of all the initiates with Uriah following behind by the smallest of margins. Neither Tris or Uriah have shown any signs of being divergent in the sims but I had spoken to both of them separately before they had started last week so they understood what they needed to do.

At least there is only two more days of this.


	38. Chapter 38

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

TRIS POV

I walk into the dormitory to see what the results for stage two are. Tobias wouldn't even give me a hint of what they were. I was in the Dauntless born dormitory watching them get their results. Uriah is first, Lynn second and Marlene third. Rita had come in fifth which was great for her.

It doesn't seem like there is anyone in here. I look up to the board and see my name in first. Peter is in second place with Edward behind him. I am scanning down the list when I feel my arms being grabbed and held by someone. Peter is now standing in front of me.

"How did you do it?" Peter spits at me. "How can you be so good at this? I'm not going to put up with coming second to a Stiff," Peter is yelling.

Peter then punches me in the stomach knocking the wind out of me. I slump over slightly and before I can recover he has punched me in the jaw. I lean into the person who is holding my arms and I kick at Peter hitting him in the stomach.

This seems to enrage him. "You bitch," he screams at me. I know the only way to stop him from attacking me again is to keep trying to kick him. He lunges forward but before he can get me Uriah and Marlene are dragging him away from him. Lynn has punched the person who is holding my arms and they have let me go. I turn to see that it is Drew.

I rush at Drew and start swinging my fists at him. Lynn is helping. I look across to see that Uriah and Marlene are attacking Peter and he is now on the floor. Once both Drew and Peter are unconscious we walk out of the dormitory.

"Oh my god what happened? Christina shrieks as we all stand breathing heavily outside the dormitory.

"Peter didn't like being ranked below me. So he and Drew decided to attack me," I say.

"Tris I am so sorry. I am sorry for everything," Christina tells me. "I should never have said those things that I said."

"You finally worked that out did you?" says Lynn.

"I'm trying to say I'm sorry," Christina says.

"Bit late for that, don't you think?" Lynn says.

I can't stand to hear them yelling at each other anymore. They aren't stopping.

"Stop!" I shout. "Just stop both of you. I can't stand this anymore. We all used to be friends. We shouldn't be treating each other like this."

I don't know what else to say to them all. I know we can't go back to where we were but I don't want us all hating on each other either. I need some air, some space. I walk away from all of them. If they want to fight, then I don't want to witness it.

I walk up to Tobias's office and hope that I can find him there. He is going to be beyond angry when he sees the bruise I can feel forming on my chin.

I knock on the door and walk in. Max, Scott and Tobias are all there.

"What happened?" Tobias asks as he comes from around his desk to look at me.

"Peter didn't like coming in second to me. So he had Drew hold my arms and he attacked me," I say.

"Cowards," Max says.

"Are you okay?" Scott asks.

"Yeah. Uriah, Marlene and Lynn walked in on the attack and we beat them unconscious," I say.

"Good," Tobias says as he hugs me.

"How do we punish them for this?" Tobias asks.

"I have an idea," Max says. "Tris I need you to trust me now. I am not going to tell you what is going to happen but for now I want them to stay in the dormitories and think that they got away with it."

"You have go to be joking? You want her to stay in the dorms with them?" Tobias says with a raised voice.

"Four calm down. She can stay with you until initiation is over," Max says. "We do need to talk to you about something Tris."

I must have a surprised look on my face because he says with a smile, "it is nothing to worry about."

"We want to know if you would consider a leadership position when job choosing comes up?" Max says.

I look at Tobias and he just nods his head.

"I didn't really think I would like a leadership position," I say. "I was actually looking at faction ambassador."

"I would be happy for you to take either position Tris," Max says. "Faction ambassador would be a perfect fit for you I think."

"Think about it a bit more Tris," Scott says. "I will get you a copy of the job descriptions for both positions so that you can way up your options."

"Thanks," I say.

"You sure you are okay?" Tobias asks.

"Yeah. I'm mostly surprised by what Peter did. I didn't think he would have the guts to do something like that out in the open," I say. "I think I am going to just go to your place for a while. See Caleb."

"I'll be home soon," he says. He gives me a quick kiss and I leave.

TOBIAS POV

"What do you want to do with Peter and Drew?" I ask Max.

"Shaming them at the final rankings will be the first thing I am going to do. As for what else will be involved, well I need to check our laws to what I can do. Initiates can be a bit of a grey area," Max says. "But I will make sure they don't go unpunished. Although getting a beat down from Uriah, Lynn and Tris wouldn't be something I would want to have happen to me."

"If Tris doesn't want the leadership position who do you think we should offer it too?" Scott asks.

"Well we are going to need two aren't we?" I ask.

"Yeah we are," Max says.

"Well Uriah would be my next choice from the initiates. I don't think I would ask any other initiate, maybe Edward. But I think we should give one of the positions to Josh," I say.

"Do you think Josh is ready?" Max asks.

"Without a doubt. He doesn't just coordinate our schedules Max. He is always helping with writing reports. He knows everything that is going on in the faction. He gets along with everyone and he has never let his own views dictate the way he works," I say.

"I agree," says Scott. "Vera and Graham had him doing a lot of their work. They pushed whatever they could onto the poor boy. And he always got it done and didn't complain"

"Okay well now we are going to need a new coordinator," Max says. "I don't really want an initiate in the role, especially if we are going to let one of them become our personal assistant."

"Should we advertise the position?" I ask. "Because I know someone who would be perfect for the position."

"Who?" Max asks.

"Shauna," I say. "I know what you are thinking. How could she be good for the role with Zeke as her partner? But that is one of the reasons I think she would be good. She is good at coordinating him, I'm sure we won't be half as hard and there are three of us. I have been trying to find her a new job for a while. She is excelling in the patrol programme and I know she wants a job inside the compound."

"Scott what do you think?" Max asks.

"Ask her, if she wants the position give it to her. I don't have anyone in mind for the job so this will make it simpler," Scott says.

I can't wait to be able to offer her the position, I know she is going to be totally excited.

"Are we still happy to offer Lynn the position we talked about?" I ask.

"Yes," Max and Scott say at the same time.

"Good, I'll talk to her tomorrow," I say

"What is going to be happening with the trials?" Scott asks.

"Well Candor should be finished with the lower level members in a few days. Do you think we should ask them to wait until after the job choosing ceremony to start Graham and Vera's trials? Or do you want them before hand?" Max asks.

"After," I say. "Let's get our new members settled in first. Then we can concentrate on the others. No matter what happens, both Graham and Vera will not be able to stay on as leaders. No one will trust them," I say.

"I agree with Four. We need to have people we can trust and I know I won't be trusting them so I can't expect our members to," Scott says.

"When is Eric being questioned?" I ask.

"I asked Jack to have him questioned the same day as Graham and Vera. I knew we would all want to hear what he has to say," Max says.

"So we are all going to go?" Scott asks.

"Yes. I know we like to always have someone in Dauntless but I think we need to show a united front," Max says. "Four have you heard from Evelyn lately?"

"No I haven't," I say.

"We are going to have to watch the factionless carefully. If they think that any of the factions are vulnerable I feel they may try to strike," Max says.

"Do you think we should beef up patrols?" Scott asks. "Especially around the compound."

"I will make sure we have more guards patrolling the compound while we are at Candor," I say. "I will get additional resources until we know what she is up too."

"Good," Max says. "Do you think she will want to talk to you?"

"No. I think it is time we talked to the other factions about breaking the factionless up," I say.

"Let's get this mess fixed first then we can look at that," Max says. "Just one more thing. Caleb Prior. Do we send him back to Erudite?"

"What are the rules?" Scott asks

"We don't have any. This has never happened before. I know Amity has let the occasional person move to Amity but it has only happened on a handful of occasions in two hundred years," Max says.

"So if he wanted to stay we could grant him membership to Dauntless?" I ask.

"Talk to him Four. See what he wants to do. He has shown he is brave. We would need him to go through some sort of training. Just like every other member. As long as he showed he was competent then I can't see any problem with him staying. We would all need to agree and we would probably need to get approval from the other factions. Abnegation and Amity won't be a problem, I'm sure. Candor well who knows what they will think. Erudite would probably be upset but I think they have enough problems on their hands that they would be glad to have one less."

"Do either of you two have a problem with him staying?" I ask.

"No," Scott says. "He saved our faction from committing genocide. As far as I'm concerned he can stay."

"I agree with Scott," Max says.

"I'll talk to him," I say. After our discussion the other night maybe he would be happy to stay. I know I would be happy to have him around. So will Tris. He knows a lot of our friends so he would be welcomed I'm sure.

* * *

"Tris, Scott asked me to give you these," I say as I pass her the job descriptions.

"What are they?" Caleb asks.

"Just some job descriptions for Tris to consider," I say.

I can see Caleb looking over Tris's shoulder. "Leader?" Caleb says.

"Yeah, she is our first choice," I say.

'Or ambassador. Wow sis you have some great opportunities," Caleb says.

"I do," Tris says. "I still think I would be better as an ambassador," she says.

"It's up to you," I say. "You need to do what you think will make you happiest."

"Caleb I need to talk to you about something," I say.

"What is it?" he asks.

"Come and sit down. Tris you too. It sort of involves all of us," I say.

"What's going on?" Tris asks.

"Well we just had a meeting and well, we have agreed that if Caleb wants to stay in Dauntless he can. Of course he will have to do some training but if you want Caleb you can stay?"

"Oh my god, that is amazing," Tris says.

"Do you think you might want to?" I ask.

'Um, yeah, well. . . I don't know. I mean part of me wants to stay. A big part of me wants to stay. What are my options?"

"Well first you needed Dauntless leadership to agree to it. Which we have. After that we need to talk to the leaders of the other factions. I know dad would agree, so that ticks off Abnegation. Amity would never say no to such an idea. We don't know about Candor and well Erudite are in a bit of a mess. I would think that Erudite would agree just to have one less problem over there," I say. "Erudite would need to retrain you because you hadn't finished initiation when you came here. I don't even know if you would be allowed back there."

"It looks like Tris and I have a lot to think about," Caleb says.

"Yes we do," Tris says. "How long until Caleb can leave this place?"

"I'm not sure. I suppose if he decides to stay here than once we got approval from the other factions," I say.

"What if I didn't get approval?"

"Well I'm sure we could make it a majority rules vote. But I think if we are willing to accept you then we shouldn't have any trouble with the other factions. It's not really any of their business with who we allow to become members. I think Max is just trying to keep the waters calm after everything that has happened," I say. "You don't have to decide right now. Do you want to talk to mum and dad about it?"

"I'll sleep on it," Caleb says.


	39. Chapter 39

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

TRIS POV

I wake feeling warm arms enveloping my body. I can't help but to smile. I turn to see Tobias sleeping peacefully next to me. If only all his nights could be as peaceful as he is right now. I lay there just soaking him in. Wishing we could stay cocooned in this room forever. I watch as his eyes flutter open and he stares back at me.

"Hi," he says in his raspy morning voice.

"Morning," I say as I lean in and give him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Did you sleep?" he asks.

I nod. "A lot better than you did," I say.

"Did I wake you?"

"Yeah," I say. I don't want him to feel bad for waking me. But we need to talk about what is happening with his nightmares.

"I'm sorry," he says. He pulls me closer.

"Tobias you don't have anything to apologize for. It's not like you meant to wake me up," I say. Trying to sound gentle.

"I know but it isn't fair on you," he says.

"Tobias," I say.

"No Tris. I need to apologize, I don't know what else I can do," he says.

"We need to talk about this. No apologize, no it'll get better. We need to sit down and talk about what is happening and why," I say.

"Tris it isn't a big deal. I'll get over it," he says. I can tell he is trying to brush me off.

"Tobias tell me one thing," I say. "How many nights have you had to wake up alone screaming in the last two years?"

"I don't know," he says. "I didn't exactly count them."

"So it's more than you can remember?" I ask.

"I guess, I don't know. Why do you want to do this now Tris?"

"Because I'm worried. I hate to have to see you like this. Because I love you," I say.

Tobias groans as he rolls onto his back and it feels like he is trying to push me away.

"Please," I say. "You know I care, I want to try and help you," I say.

"What if I can't be helped? What if this is it for me? What if this is how it is always going to be?" he asks. Then he whispers, "What if this is what I deserve?"

I can feel the tears start to fall. I wish he didn't have to see this but I hate that he thinks this way about himself.

"You know you didn't deserve what he did to you," I say. "You were just a little boy. He is the one at fault, not you."

"See the things is, is that I know that. But there is this part of me that keeps telling me that if I had done things differently he wouldn't have done it."

"What do you think you could have done differently?"

"I don't know," he says. "Tris why do we have to talk about this?"

"Because I'm worried about you," I say.

"I can take care of myself you know," he says.

"I know that. But this is bigger than you or me. You need help. You need to talk to someone about this. You can't tell me that you want to spend the rest of your life waking in terror every other night," I say. "What if we want kids one day? Do you want them to be woken by your screams? In turn probably scaring them half to death."

"That's not fair Tris. You know I would never want to do something like that," he says. "But maybe by the time we want kids it will be better."

"Tobias, you know that isn't what is going to happen," I say.

"What do you want me to do then?" he asks sounding defeated.

"Talk to a professional about it. They tell me there are some great councillors here in Dauntless. Just give it a try, if you don't feel like it is helping than I won't mention this again. But please just try," I say. Begging he will give this a go. I know he is going to hate this but I need to know we have tried all we can to make this better.

We both get up and get dressed for the day. I can feel there is some tension between us since we talked. I think I just need to leave him to process it. I can't make him get help, he needs to do that for himself. But I won't abandon him either.

I walk into the lounge room to see Caleb is up and ready for the day. Not that he can do much or go anywhere. Tobias walks out of the kitchen but he doesn't look at me.

"I've made my decision," Caleb says.

"So?" Tobias asks.

"I want to stay in Dauntless," he says.

"Oh my god Caleb that is excellent," I scream, running and giving him a hug.

"This is great news," Tobias says also hugging Caleb. "I will let Max know."

"Does that mean he can leave the apartment now?" I ask. "We don't have to hide him anymore?"

"It should," Tobias says. "Let me talk to Max first. We are going to have to talk to the other factions. Hopefully we can talk to them today, get this matter worked out quickly. Get your face off those 'missing posters' they have hung all over town."

When Caleb first went missing Erudite put up missing posters with Caleb's face on them. They are all over the city, Tobias and I thought it was funny to begin with. But I had people coming up to me, asking if I was alright, did I need anything, telling me it must be such a worry. Now every time I see a poster I feel guilty for letting people believe he was missing.

Caleb laughs at Tobias's comment. "Yeah not exactly the way I wanted people to know who I am," he says.

p/b

"Are you going to hang out with your friends today?" Tobias asks as we are leaving the apartment.

"Yeah, I hope so. After me yelling yesterday I don't know how happy they will feel seeing me," I say.

I finally got to tell Tobias what happened with Christina and Lynn yesterday afternoon. He told me about what had happened with Christina in her fear simulation. I am hoping we can be friends again. I think Tobias is right, she does need friends at the moment. She probably did all along.

"It will all work out. You had all been friends for a while before coming here," he says.

"We will see," I say.

We have reached the leader offices and I don't really know whether I should kiss him good bye or not. I can still fell there is strain between us. Before I can think any more about it he pulls me towards me and hugs me.

"I heard what you said this morning," he says. "I just need some time."

"I know," I say. I stand on my toes and reach up and give him a quick kiss.

"I'll come find you when I know more about Caleb," he says.

p/b

I walk into the Dauntless borns dormitory and I see Uriah, Marlene, Lynn and Rita all sitting on Lynn's bed.

"Tris!" Uriah shouts.

"Could you yell any louder Uriah?" I ask.

"Sorry," Uriah says. "I'm just really glad to see you. Are you okay? We tried to look for you but we couldn't find you."

"I was with Four," I say.

"I told you that is where she would be," Lynn says.

"Yeah, yeah I know," Uriah says.

"So we made up with Christina and Will when you left," Marlene says.

"That's good," I say.

"I don't think her and Will are doing to good," Marlene says.

"Why? How do you know?" I ask.

"There just seemed to be a lot of tension between them yesterday. They didn't seem to be happy around each other," Lynn says.

"So what are we going to do today?" I ask. "We should do something that we can invite Christina and Will too. So they know we want them around. We can also see if Edward and Myra want to join us."

"That's a great idea," Uriah says. "We could hang out in the training room or we could just go up on the roof and hang."

"Let's go up to the roof," Lynn says. "It would be nice to see the sunshine for a while."

"We could take turns jumping into the net," Uriah says.

"I like that idea," I say. "Rita are you okay going up there?"

"Oh god, I forgot. I'm sorry Rita," Uriah says.

"It's okay Uriah," Rita says. "I think it is a good idea. Give me a chance to make happy memories up there. I really would like to jump on the net again, last time, I don't really remember even doing it."

"Let's go then," I say.

We start walking towards the transfer dorms when Rita pulls on my arm. "Thank you Tris. I really appreciate you thinking of me."

"Your welcome. Just remember if it gets too much we can leave," I say linking her arm in mine as we continue to walk.

"Tris," Christina calls out, nearly as loudly as Uriah did earlier. "How are you? I was really worried when you didn't sleep here last night."

"You didn't sleep in the dorms?" Lynn asks.

"Max told me to stay at Four's until initiation is over. They don't want me in the same room as Peter and Drew," I say.

"Aren't they going to do anything about it?" Christina asks.

"I don't know," I say.

"You would think Four would do something," Christina says.

"Christina," I say. I don't want to get all defensive with her, we are only just back to being friends. "I don't know what will happen, let's just leave it at that."

"Yeah sure Tris. You're just happy to be staying with Four," Uriah says.

Everyone just laughs and then we tell them our plan to go and jump off the roof.

TOBIAS POV

"Have you asked Josh if he wants the position yet?" I ask Max.

"No I thought you could do that. Then if he says yes you can talk to Shauna," Max says.

"Great, I will get onto that straight away. Caleb wants to stay in Dauntless," I say.

"I think that is good news. I will try to organise a video link for this afternoon with the other factions. I have just been told that Erudite have set up a panel of three as their interim leaders. They haven't decided what they ae going to do about a leader so they want to see if having more than one can stop what happened last time. They are thinking it may be in their best interests not to give one person so much power and control," Max says.

"Finally they are using their brains," I say.

Max laughs. "I will let you know when the meeting is. How is Tris this morning?"

"She seemed good," I say. I didn't even ask her how she was feeling this morning. She was the one attacked yesterday and all she was worried about was me. I am such a fucking idiot.

"What's going on Four?" Max asks. "Does this have something to do with Caleb knocking on my door the other night?"

"Yeah, but I don't really want to talk about it," I say.

"Well just know I'm here if you need me," Max says.

"Thanks," I say. "I better go and sort these job vacancies out."

I walk out of Max's office and see Josh sitting at his desk. "Josh can I have a word with you in my office," I say.

Josh gets up from his chair and follows me into my office.

"What can I do for you Four?" he asks.

"Sit," I say and motion to the seat in front of my desk. Josh sits and he looks worried.

"You look worried Josh. Is there something wrong?" I ask.

"I'm thinking you are going to fire me. With only three leaders you won't need my help anymore," He says.

"No Josh. We wouldn't want to do that," I say. "But we do have another job in mind for you."

"You do?" He asks.

"Yes. Max, Scott and I would like to know if you would like to become a leader?"

"Are you serious?" Josh asks.

"Yes. You would have to go through a training program just like we have all had to do."

"YES! Yes, yes," Josh exclaims. "I can't believe this. I mean I love my job but to be a leader. This is amazing."

"So once initiation is finished we will start your training program. There will be another joining you but you will both have the position. We are not going to be going through a selection process like last time," I say.

"Thank goodness. I was a part of that program, when you got the position. It was brutal and Eric was tormenting everyone, trying to get them to drop out," Josh says. "Thankfully Max didn't let him get the position of leader or who knows what our faction would be like now."

Yeah, I think to myself, I wonder what our faction would have been like if Eric was a leader. I shake this thought from my head. The thought actually scares me.

"Josh can you do me a favour and find one of the initiates for me? I need to speak to Lynn," I say.

"No problem, is there anything else you need?" he asks.

"No thanks. I need to speak to Shauna about taking over your position and then I would like to see Lynn," I say.

"Do you want me to find Shauna for you?" he asks.

"No it's okay I will find them myself. If I have any trouble, I'll call you. Also Josh you have the opportunity to move up onto our floor once your training begins," I say.

"I think I'd like to wait a bit Four. I'm going to be asking Courtney to marry me, so it would be nice if we moved in together after the wedding," he says. "As long as she says yes I mean."

"She will say yes. I've seen the two of you. Congratulations Josh," I say.

"Thanks Four."

"Hey Gus, it's Four," I say into the phone.

"Yeah thanks. I need to speak to Zeke can you put him on the phone?" I wait as Gus goes to get Zeke.

"Zeke hey, do you know where Shauna is today?" I ask. I know she has the day off and I am betting Zeke will know where she is.

"Okay can you go get her and I need both of you to come to my office," I say.

"Yeah okay. See you soon," I say and hang up.

While I am waiting for Shauna and Zeke to arrive I decide to make one more call.

"Dauntless counselling service Cameron speaking," The voice says. Obviously his name is Cameron.

"Cameron, it's Four here," I say.

"As in our leader Four?" he asks.

"How many people do you know go by the name Four?" I ask.

"Sorry sir. How can I help you today Four?"

"I need to talk to one of our counsellors," I say.

"May I ask what it is regarding?" he asks. Nosy little shit.

"I have an initiate who needs some help," I say. Complete bullshit but he is not going to know my business.

"Would they rather a male or a female?"

"What's the difference?" I ask.

"I just need to talk to them. I'm not having a session with them," I say.

"Well some people would rather a certain gender," he says.

"Just let me talk to whoever is available and we can work it out from there."

"Fine, I'll put you through to Celine," he says.

"Thank you Cameron. You can get off the phone now," I hear Celine says. Fuck, this is going to be harder than I thought. What if this Cameron guy tries to get into my business? I hear a click sound, which I assume is Cameron hanging up.

"Hello Four. You're talking with Celine," she says. "Sorry about that, Cameron likes to . . . help."

"I can have him moved to the fence if you like?"

She laughs a little and then says, "How can I help you today?"

"Well, umm, I have a delicate matter that I need help with," I say.

"So you don't have an initiate who has a problem?" she asks.

"I'm sure most of them have problems Celine. But no that's not why I called," I say.

"I see. Well I think the best way to approach this is if I meet you in your office," she says. "I can come by after my next appointment. In about an hour," she says.

"I would appreciate that. Thank you," I say.

"Look we try to be discreet down here. So anything said is confidential. It may be that you would be better suited to one of my colleagues but let's have a quick chat and we can see what we need to do for you," she says.

"Thanks. I'll see you in an hour," I say.

I hang up the phone and hear a knock on my door. "Come in," I say.

Zeke and Shauna walk in and I get out of my chair and tell them to sit.

"What's going on?" Shauna asks.

"Well I have a job opportunity for you," I say to Shauna.

"For me? So why is Zeke here?"

"Well I thought it would be easier to tell you both because part of the package involves him," I say.

"Okay," Shauna says.

"I want to know if you would like Josh's position. As coordinator to the leaders," I say.

"How does that include me?" Zeke asks.

"Well if Shauna agrees, she gets an apartment in the leaders wing. With you two living together it would mean you would both be moving in," I say.

"How would I not want that?" Zeke asks.

"Well Mr Party, there are certain expectations involved in living in this area of the compound," I say.

"What do you mean?" Shauna asks.

"Well the weekly parties that Zeke is used to holding would not be appreciated by everyone. The occasional party would be fine but we can't have just anyone in this area of the compound. Also if you do have a party Max requests that all leaders are invited," I say.

"I'll take the job," says Shauna rather quickly. "What?"

"It just seems you are taking this job offer rather quickly after my explanation of the living arrangements," I say.

"I'm sick of all the parties. Our home is trashed every weekend. I could do with a break from all of that. I think Zeke could too," Shauna says.

"Zeke?" I ask.

"She's right. I mean, I hate the clean-up and the fights we have over the clean-up. Plus, it is a great job opportunity and a lot less dangerous than what she has at the moment," Zeke says.

"We can always go and trash some other person's party," Shauna says.

"That sounds like a great idea," Zeke says. "What is happening to Josh?"

"He has agreed to be a leader in training. So he will be close by if you have any questions Shauna. I would also ask that as part of your job that you work closely with Max. He knows this faction inside and out but his desk looks like a bomb hit it. Plus, he sucks at filing. He can never remember where he put anything. He knows the names of every faction member but he can't tell you where he filed last month's budget," I say. "I just don't want him to know you are helping him."

"I can do that," Shauna says.

"Okay well the position is going to start as soon as initiation is over. So basically next week. I'll let Alice know in housing so she can organise which apartment you will be getting. I will have her contact you when everything is ready. I will also talk to Frank and tell him that we have transferred you out of patrol," I say. "Which means you can have the next few days off and you will be here to see the rankings when they come out."

"Thank you Four. I think the best part is knowing I will be here for the rankings. Frank wouldn't give me the day off, bastard. It's not like anyone else had a family member going through initiation this year. He was just being a dick because he and his friends wanted to party," Shauna says.

"I think we need to make it mandatory for Dauntless born initiates to be able to have their families at the final rankings," I say.

"That would be nice," Zeke says. "So we get to live near you and Tris."

"Tris is moving in?" Shauna asks.

"Yeah, well she already has," I say.

"But initiation isn't over yet?" Zeke says.

"She was attacked by two initiates for ranking first at the end of stage two. So Max told her to stay with me," I say.

"Cool," Zeke says. Shauna hits him on the back of the head. "Not cool she was attacked. Cool she has already moved in."

"That's why I thought you called us both down here," Shauna says.

"What?" I say.

"Well I thought you might have been going to tell us you were going to ask her to marry you," Shauna says.

"What?" Zeke says.

"Don't you think we are a bit young?" I ask. "Plus we have only really just gotten together as a couple. We are going to be living together, isn't that enough for now?"

"Come on Four. You know where you are both from. I thought you would be jumping to marry her," Shauna says.

"I will be one day. But she needs the chance to settle in here. We need time to sort some stuff out," I say. Really I mean I need time to sort my shit out. But they don't need to know that.

We all turn towards the door as we hear a knock.

"Come in," I call out. Pretty sure it is Lynn.

"Wow, I should have brought Uriah and Tris with me and we could have had a family reunion," Lynn says.

"I think she is having too much fun to want to be here," Zeke says.

"How do you know what they were doing?" I ask.

"I'm in the control room Four," Zeke says.

"Stalker much," says Lynn.

"What? No. They looked like they were having a blast," Zeke says.

"What were they doing?" Shauna asks before I get the chance.

"They have been jumping off the roof onto the net," Zeke says.

"Are you insane?" I screech out at Lynn.

"Geez Four, chill. You would think you were scared of heights or something," says Lynn.

I give her a death glare.

"You have to be fucking kidding me. You only have four fears and one of them is heights. You cannot be serious right now," Zeke says laughing so much he falls of his chair and onto the floor.

"Thank you very much Zeke. Do tell us, how many fears do you have?" I say. "This does not leave this room or I will hunt each and every one of you down."

"No one would believe us Four," Lynn says.

"She's right," Shauna says. "They really wouldn't."

"So why am I here?" Lynn asks.

"I need to talk to you about job choosing," I say.

"Why are you guys here?" Lynn points to Zeke and Shauna.

"Four just offered me a new job," Shauna says. "I'm going to be coordinator to the leaders."

"That's great sis. Congratulations," Lynn says.

"So you want them to stay? Or would you rather they hear about the job offer with everyone else?"

"They can stay. If it's a bad job offer maybe they can convince you to give me a better one," Lynn says with a hint of a smile on her face.

"We actually have two positions that we would like to offer you. One is only part time and the second is full time but you will get time off if you need it for the first one," I say.

"Okay well spill already," Lynn says.

"First we want to give you the opportunity to become a sniper," I say.

"No way," Zeke says in awe. "That is like the most awesome job."

"Yeah blowing people's heads off from a long distance is really awesome Zeke," says Shauna.

"I didn't mean it like that. There aren't many people who get the opportunity to be a sniper. It is like really prestigious," Zeke says. "And we have never had to use them anyway."

"And the second?" Lynn asks.

"Personal trainer. But you won't be working with our normal members, you will be working with leadership and anyone who resides in the leadership wing. Plus a few other select Dauntless members. You will have to help out with initiate training though," I say.

"Does that mean I get housing in the leadership wing?"

"Yes it does," I say.

"I'll take it," Lynn says.

"You'll be living near me," Shauna says.

"And me," says Zeke.

Lynn fakes groans at Zeke and we all laugh. "So how did I get offered this position?" Lynn asks. "I thought that only a select few get to do this job. Usually they come from other training positions."

"Max was impressed with what you did for Tris. Then when he found out about how good you were on the sniper range he thought that combining the two jobs would suit you best," I say.

"Uriah is going to be so jealous when he finds out we are all living in the leaders wing," Zeke says. "I can't wait to rub it in."

"I wouldn't say anything yet Zeke," I say. "He still has job choosing and you don't know where he might end up. You might end up with him as a neighbour."

"That would be nice," Zeke says.

We all look at him strangely. "What? I might tease him but that's because he is my younger brother. But it will be good if he is close by."

"Has anyone else been given a job early?" Shauna asks.

"Lynn is the only one to have been offered a position. Tris has been given options because we need her decision before job choosing. Everything will be revealed at job choosing. But we have to see where people are ranked first," I say. "We are having interviews with other people tomorrow. Get an idea of what would suit them. Although only the top five get to pick any job, we still have to look at giving the next group some options."


	40. Chapter 40

CHAPTER FORTY

FOUR POV

After Zeke, Shauna and Lynn left I rest my head on my desk with my eyes closed. I haven't told Tris but I haven't been sleeping well. Even before the nightmare she witnessed the other night. I know that everything she said to me this morning was right, I just wish it wasn't. I would still like to ring back down to Celine and tell her not to bother coming up here.

"Hello," a soft voice calls out. I look up and see who I assume is Celine standing in my doorway.

I get up from my chair and go over and shake her hand. This is Celine and I offer her a seat. I close my door and walk around to the other side of my desk. I'm not Four the leader right now, I'm Tobias. I sit and face Celine and I have no idea what to say.

"Four let me start by telling you that anything said here today and in the future is completely confidential. We are also able to keep your name off any documents if you wish," she says.

This makes me feel a lot more comfortable. I don't need people like Cameron getting any of my information. I just nod my head to what Celine is saying.

"So, how about you give me a brief idea of what I can help you with and I can determine if you are better seeing me or one of my colleagues," she says.

"Okay. Well first you should know that only my family know what I am going to tell you. I do not want this to be getting out," I say. "My name is Tobias Eaton."

"Marcus Eaton's son?" she asks.

"Correct," I say. "You have probably heard what happened to me. Marcus's trial was . . .."

"Yes I am aware of what you went through," she says.

"It has left me with nightmares. They were extremely bad when I was a child. They got better for a while but I have never really got rid of them. Then a few days ago I was in Candor delivering some prisoners to the jail when I came across Marcus. That night the nightmares were back worse than ever before," I say.

"Four I'm glad you have reached out for help. I think I can help you. But I must warn you, we are going to be looking deeply into your past. To start with you may feel like you are regressing, the nightmares could resurface at a heightened level. But with time I think I can help you," she says.

"How will this work?" I ask. "I don't really want people to know what is going on."

"We can meet in your office or your home. It can be out of normal business hours. You won't ever need to walk into my office if you don't want," she says.

"My office, out of hours would probably be best," I say.

"Does this mean you don't want your partner to know?"

"Tris? She already knows, she was the one who told me to contact you," I say. "I would never want to hide any of this from her."

"Good," she says. "It always helps if you have support from your loved ones. Now I know this next week is a busy time in Dauntless, so let's set up to have our first session in two week's time."

* * *

I meet the gang in the dining hall for lunch. I grab my lunch and walk over to the table and sit next to Tris.

"We are meeting with the other leaders this afternoon to decide on Caleb's status," I say.

"That was quick. I hope they agree," she says.

"Me too," I say. "I have enjoyed having him around."

"Is there something else?" she asks.

"Always perceptive, aren't you?"

"Sometimes," she says with a small smile on her face.

"I have an appointment," I whisper. She looks at me questioningly. "About my nightmares, next week."

She jumps up and wraps her arms around me and kisses me. Our whole table turns and they are looking at us. Tris whispers in my ear, "I am so proud of you."

"What did you say to her?" Uriah asks. "I don't think I've ever seen her show that much affection in public."

"When have you seen her show affection in private?" I ask.

"Good point. Just ignore me," Uriah says. Tris just laughs at him.

"How was net jumping?" I ask the table, hoping to get the attention of me.

"It was awesome," says Rita. "I don't really remember jumping the first time and it was so much fun this time."

It is great to hear Rita happy, I didn't know if she was going to get through initiation. Now she is happier and she has made some great friends. You can still see the sadness there but I think the happy times are helping. Maybe there is hope for me. The table starts talking about the craziness of their jumps and I can't even imagine how they could have enjoyed it.

"Tris."

We all turn around at the sound of someone calling Tris' name. Al is standing in front of us. He looks like he hasn't slept for days and he has been crying.

"Hi Al. What's wrong?" Tris asks.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Al says.

"For what?" Tris asks.

"I knew what Peter and Drew planned to do. They wanted me to help but I couldn't do it," Al says.

"What?" I scream. Is he kidding me. I stand up and I feel Zeke and Uriah have moved to stand next to me.

"I'm sorry I didn't warn you. I'm . . .," Al says with tears running down his face.

"How could you?" Tris says.

"I was scared, I wanted . . .. I didn't . . .."

"Coward," says Lynn.

Zeke and Uriah are holding me back. I am so angry right now. Tris stands and puts her hand to my chest. She shakes her head at me. This helps to calm me down but only a little. I would really like to kill Al right now.

"Stay away from me Al. Stay away from me and my friends. I can't guarantee that you will be safe you if you come near any of us again," Tris says with tears in her eyes.

"But," Al says.

"Walk away while you can dude," Uriah says.

I brush off Uriah and Zeke's arms and I wrap my arms around Tris. As we watch Al scurry out the door.

"I can't believe he would do that," Christina says.

"I thought he was a friend," says Marlene.

"He has never fitted in here," I say. "Tris are you okay?"

"Yeah. I don't know. I can't believe this," she says. "I knew he didn't really fit with us but we were always trying to help him."

"Some people just can't be helped," Uriah says.

"Are you going to be okay?" I ask Tris. "I really need to go back to work."

"She'll be fine," Lynn says. "We'll look after her."

"Let's go back up to the roof," Uriah says.

"Do you want to go with these guys or do you want to go and see Caleb? He could probably use the company," I whisper to her. The others don't know Caleb is here, other than Zeke.

"Can I take everyone with me?" she says.

"Of course," I say. "I'll come by and tell you what happens as soon as I can.

"We are all going to Four's," Tris says. "We need to show you all something."

"That is great," Uriah says with a little too much enthusiasm. Everyone turns to look at him. "What? I've always wondered what Four's place would look like."

"Are you really my brother?" Zeke asks. "What would make you think that?"

"He lives in the leaders wing. I always wondered what those apartments would be like," Uriah says.

"Ohh, we thought you meant you wanted to know how Four decorated or something," Lynn says.

"That would be interesting too," Uriah says. We all just laugh at him.

I leave them all and head up to my office. The meeting with the other factions is less than an hour away.

* * *

Max, Scott and I are sitting in the conference room ready for our meeting with the other factions. I can't say I'm not nervous. I hope he can stay.

"I thought we were always regarded as being late for everything," Scott says.

"We are. But we were the ones who called this meeting so I thought it would be better to be early. I don't want to piss any of the other factions off before we start," Max says.

"Hello Dauntless," Johanna Reyes for Amity calls out from the computer screen. It's just after lunch and it sounds like she has been getting stuck into the 'blissful bread' as Max calls it. It wasn't until Max told me that they put peace serum into their bread that I understood why Amity members were always so happy.

"Afternoon Johanna," Max says. He likes to have these afternoon meetings with Johanna, he says she is always more likely to agree with whatever plans you come up with because of her high. If it works today, then who am I to argue with him about it.

It isn't long before all the factions have a representative staring at each other from the computer screen. Dad is here for Abnegation, Jack Kang is representing Candor and we have the three Erudite interim leaders Cara, Fernando and Camille all looking at us.

"Thank you all for meeting on such short notice. First I would like everyone to know that Caleb Prior has been found and is in good health," Max says.

"That is wonderful news," Johanna says. "Andrew that must be such a welcome relief for you and your family."

"Thank you Johanna, yes it is," dad says.

"Where was he found?" Cara asks.

"Cara that is sensitive information. I would not like to divulge what has happened until after all the trials at Candor have been finalised," Max says.

"But he is our initiate. We deserve to know," Cara says.

"Cara I will not be telling you this at this time," Max says.

"But . . .," Cara says before being interrupted by Jack.

"Cara could you please let the man speak. I am in the middle of interrogations here at Candor and would like to get this meeting over with as soon as possible," Jack says. "Please continue Max."

"Thank you Jack. Caleb Prior has requested that he would like to stay in Dauntless. After much consideration we have agreed to allow him to stay. But we would like to have all five faction agree to this," Max says.

"I agree," Johanna says. I have to stifle a laugh. Max was right she is very agreeable after lunch.

"I agree as well," says Dad.

"If he has failed initiation in Erudite shouldn't he be factionless," says Jack.

"He hasn't failed initiation," Cara says.

"Well we can't just have initiates jumping faction half way through initiation," Jack says.

"What does the law say?" Fernando asks.

"We don't have a specific law for this," Jack says.

"This is why we are talking this through," Max says. "I believe that if we at Dauntless want to allow him to stay then there shouldn't be a problem."

"I think he should come back to Erudite," Cara says.

"Why should we have him return to Erudite Cara?" Max says.

"He chose Erudite. He should have to stay in Erudite," Cara says.

"Is there a reason he shouldn't Max?" Jack asks.

"Yes Jack. Those arrest warrants you issued were from information Caleb gave you," Max says.

"Well I can understand now why he would want to stay in Dauntless. I agree but I will be drawing up new laws once this mess with Jeanine Matthews is sorted out so we don't have to waste time with this sort of thing again. If there is nothing else I will bid you farewell," Jack says.

I can understand Jack doesn't want to be taken from his other business today. The trials have been taxing on Candor and they have only been for the low level workers. Next week when the leaders are put on trial it is going to be extremely stressful. Jack is always straight to the point and thankfully he has agreed for Caleb to stay. Now we just need to convince Erudite.

I can see the three from Erudite in deep discussion. They separate and Cara is the one to speak. "We will agree to this on one condition," she says.

"What is that?" Max says.

"Caleb showed great promise while he was with us. We would hate for his intellect to be wasted. We would ask that you give him opportunities to become more than, say, just a fence guard," Cara says.

"Cara are you saying that if Caleb wanted to say, become a doctor, you would be happy for him to join such a program in Erudite?" I ask. That is what he had been thinking of studying before.

"Yes Four that is exactly what we are saying. His test results whilst at Erudite were excellent," Cara says.

"Excellent," Max says. "It seems we are all in agreeance here. Cara we will let you know what career Caleb chooses. Thank you all for your time today. We will let you get back to your busy lives. Goodbye"

Max shuts the computer off. "Thank god that is over," Scott says. "I hate these types of meetings. It is so much easier when you can all be in the same room and just stand up and show them your gun."

"I think you may be right there Scott," Max says. "Well Four I think you better go and give Caleb the good news."

"I have an apartment full of people waiting for this," I say.

"Max we have a jumper," Josh says as he runs into the room.

I groan. "Is it an initiate?" I ask.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Josh says.

"There's always a jumper," says Scott.

"We had trouble at lunch. An initiate admitted to knowing what Peter and Drew were going to do to Tris. Forgiveness wasn't on anyone's lips," I say.

"Coward. Better off without him," Max says.

"I'm going to go and tell Caleb the good news. Josh do you know the initiates name?"

"No. I will get word to you as soon as I find out," Josh says.

"Thanks. I am guessing it is Al. He was failing and then with what happened at lunch. Well we know what has happened," I say.

"We will do the funeral straight away Four. I will have Josh come and get you," Max says.

"Okay, thanks," I say and leave the room.

TRIS POV

After Tobias leaves we all sit and talk at the lunch table for a bit longer. It feels nice knowing that we only have the final test for stage three to go and then we will all be members. Not long now. I still haven't made up my mind what job I am going to pick. I really think I will make a better ambassador than leader but I don't want to dismiss the idea of becoming a leader just yet. It will mean spending my days working closely with Tobias. Where if I become an ambassador I will spend a lot of times travelling to the other factions.

"Come on," I say. "We will never move from here if we don't go now."

We all get up from the table and make our way up to the leader's wing to Tobias's apartment.

"Don't you have to go back to work?" Uriah asks Zeke.

"No, Four got me the rest of the day off," Zeke says.

"How did he do that?" Uriah asks.

"It's good having friends in high places," Zeke says.

"Oh please, as if," Shauna says. "He did it for me."

"He did not," Zeke says.

"What are you talking about?" Lynn asks.

"Zeke thinks Four got him the rest of the day off because they are great friends. But really he gave him the day off so we could have a look for a new apartment," Shauna says.

"How did you get a new apartment?" Uriah asks.

"Shauna got a new job. Part of the job package is an apartment in . . . Wait for it bro . . . In the leadership wing," Zeke says.

"What about your weekend parties?" Uriah says.

"You will have to wait until you get an apartment and then you can start having the parties," Zeke says.

"Awesome," says Uriah.

"What's the new job?" I ask.

"I'm going to be the new coordinator for the leaders," Shauna says.

"The leaders have a coordinator?" Christina asks.

"Yeah, they need to make sure that at least one leader is in Dauntless at all times. The leaders have pretty crazy schedules from what I have been told, so it will be my job to make sure everything runs smoothly," Shauna says.

"So you are like a personal assistant?" Christina asks.

"No they have another person who does that job. Although I think Becca was doing that job and she quit last week. She wanted a less stressful job so she found a job in chasm maintenance. Better hours or something she said," Shauna says.

"Personal assistant to the leaders would be a great job," says Marlene. "I wonder if it will come up at job choosing?"

"Ask Four when you see him," I say.

I go to put my hand on the hand scanner to gain access to our apartment when Zeke says, "No let me do it."

Zeke puts his hand on the scanner and the door unlocks. "Show off," I say as we walk into the apartment.

"Caleb," Uriah yells out and goes over and gives Caleb a hug. "I thought you were missing?"

"Not really. I've been here the whole time," Caleb says.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Uriah asks.

"We couldn't," I say. "We needed to keep him safe."

After everyone has said their hellos and given Caleb high fives and a few hugs we all sit down in the lounge room.

"So how did you get out of Erudite without them knowing?" Will asks.

"You should talk to Zeke. He is the one that got me out," Caleb says.

Everyone turns their heads to Zeke and you can see a few mouths have dropped.

"What?" Zeke asks. "Didn't think I could do something like that? Just call me Super Stealth."

We all crack up laughing as Zeke stands and makes a pose like he is a super hero from the old comic books from before the war. I've only seen photos of them but I know there are some in an archive in Erudite.

"So spill 'Super Stealth'," Lynn says.

"Okay," Zeke says. "So remember the day you went to Erudite for an excursion?" We all sit there nodding our heads. How can we forget? Lynn punched Peter in the nose, it was the highlight of my day. "Well I was there too. Four had got some kind of coded message from Caleb and was worried he was in trouble. So he sent me to investigate."

Zeke is making himself sound so important here, I am trying not to laugh. I look around and I can see Shauna and Lynn are trying not to laugh as well. Lynn catches my eye and she is rolling hers. I can't help it, I laugh a little.

"You can laugh all you like little one, I was successful wasn't I?" Zeke says.

Now Shauna and Lynn have cracked up as well. "Okay, Okay," Shauna says. "Get on with the story."

"When you were in the foyer Caleb came and talked to Tris. Four gave me a special signal and so when he walked away I followed him," Zeke says.

"Was that when Lynn pounded on Peter? Coz that was awesome," Uriah says.

"It was just before. I was quiet upset with Four that he didn't let me stay and see that," Zeke says.

"Lynn!" Shauna exclaims. "You could have got in so much trouble for that."

"No. Four told me to make a distraction. So I did," Lynn says.

"Alright now, this is my story. Let me finish," Zeke says.

"Carry on," Shauna says with a sweep of her arm.

"Thank you," Zeke says. "Well I reached Caleb and I was trying to explain that I was here to rescue him but he thought I was a raving lunatic there to kidnap him. But once I gave him the secret code word that Four had told me. Well he started to calm down."

"What was the secret code word?" Uriah asks.

"That is two words I will take to the grave," Zeke says with his hand over his heart. Caleb has started laughing.

"What?" Zeke asks.

"He threatened to kill you if you told anyone. Didn't he?" Caleb says.

"Yes he did," Zeke says. "So I will not be divulging that information any time soon."

"What could be that important that he would kill you?" Uriah asks.

"Seriously Uriah?"Lynn says. "I bet it was his name."

"You know Four's name?" Christina says. Well it was more like a squeal.

"Over a third of this room knows his name Christina," Lynn says. "I wouldn't get too excited."

"That means you know what it is too," Christina says pointing to Lynn.

"How do you know it?" Zeke says. "I thought I was special."

"You are special Zeke. Just not the special you think," Shauna says. Everyone cracks up at this.

"But how Lynn?" Zeke asks.

"That's my secret," Lynn says. I don't think he would be happy if she told him she had guessed it. Plus, before I came here. When Lynn and I were alone I often would call him Tobias. It would be a funny conversation with me calling him Tobias and she would call him Four, even Caleb used to get confused with our conversations. It took him a while to realise that we were talking about the same person.

"Just continue your story Zeke," Will says. He sounds bored with this whole conversation we have been having. Obviously he doesn't care what Four's name is.

"Okay so where was I up to?" Zeke says. "Ah that's right I had just convinced young Caleb that I had in fact been sent to rescue him on Four's orders. So I took Caleb into the nearest bathroom got him to change into some Dauntless clothes and brought him back to Dauntless."

"That's it?" Lynn asks.

"Pretty much," Zeke says.

"You didn't have any problems getting him out?" Uriah asks.

"No. We did get in trouble off some woman for being away from the group. She thought we should have been with the Dauntless initiates and so she walked us back to the foyer so she we could find the group. But other than that. It was easy. Except when I tried to get Caleb to jump on a train. Now that was hard work," Zeke says.

"I wasn't that bad," Caleb says.

"No you weren't but I needed to make something sound a little dangerous," Zeke says.

"So do you have to go back to Erudite?" Will asks.

"That's the big question," I say. "There is a faction leaders meeting on right now to decide."

"So you want to stay here?" Lynn asks.

"Yeah. They might have got rid of Jeanine Matthews but I don't trust them," Caleb says.

"Has this ever happened before? I mean an initiate transferring to another faction in the middle of initiation," Will asks.

"I don't know," Caleb says. "Four said there has been a couple of people who have transferred to Amity after their Choosing Day but he didn't say whether they were full members or not."

"So why do you need all the leaders to agree? Shouldn't it be up to Dauntless?" Will asks.

"Dauntless has already agreed. But they wanted to get all factions to agree, especially after what is happening now," I say.

"And it was really your information that took down all those people?" Uriah asks.

"Yeah it was," Caleb says.

"So you are truly Dauntless," Uriah says. "I don't see why we need to have the other factions agree. Too bad, we got the hero, thank you and goodnight I say."

We all laugh at how over dramatic Uriah is being. Just as our laughter is starting to die down we here the lock on the door click. We all turn to the door to see Tobias walking in. I can't tell by his expression what has happened. I hope it doesn't mean Caleb will have to go back to Erudite.

"Well?" Zeke calls out.

"You can stay," Tobias says and smiles. But there is something wrong I can tell. I can see it in his eyes. What isn't he telling us.

"I can stay? Really?" Caleb says with a lot of shock in his voice. Obviously he hadn't wanted to get his hopes up about this.

"Yes, you can stay," Tobias says. "But there is one condition. Erudite want you to pick a job that you will need further study for. They don't want you to waste your intelligents."

"Stupid noses," Uriah says.

"So I could still become a doctor?" Caleb says.

Tobias nods his head.

"We need to celebrate," Zeke says.

"We do," Tobias says. "But it can wait until tomorrow."

"Why?" Zeke says.

"Because most people in this room have to go through their fear landscapes tomorrow and I think we have a pretty big party planned for tomorrow night," Tobias says.

"Oh yeah," Zeke says, "Forgot all about that."

There are a lot of people all trying to talk at once. It is very noisy in here at the moment. Then there is a knock at the door.

Tobias walks over and talks to someone at the door. We can't see who it is but when he walks back into the room I can see that he doesn't look happy.

"What's wrong," I ask.

"There isn't an easy way to say this," Tobias says, "So I will just tell you. Al jumped into the chasm."

"What?" I say. I can't believe he would do that.

"Coward," Lynn says.

Tobias comes over and asks me if I'm alright. I just shrug. I still can't believe that he would do such a thing. Lynn is right he was a coward.

"It wasn't just what happened with Peter and Drew," Tobias says. "We were going to fail him. He was going to be factionless and he knew it."

We sit and talk for a bit about it. I feel bad that he jumped but I don't feel sorry for him. He took the easy way out. He didn't try to fit in here, he didn't try to help himself. There is so much more I could think but I don't want him to dampen my mood.

I have my brother back and I am really excited that he is going to be able to stay.

"Guys I have to leave," Tobias says. "I have to go down for Al's funeral. You should all stay here and I will come and get you when it's over."

"Do you want us to go with you?" Zeke asks.

"No. He wasn't our friend and I don't think we should be there. I am only having to go because I am a leader. Stay here and chill. Celebrate with Caleb."

I walk to the door with Tobias. "Thanks," I say and give him a hug.

"I won't be long," he says.


	41. Chapter 41

CHAPTER FORTY ONE

TOBIAS POV

"Ready for today?" I ask Tris while we are lying in bed.

"Yes, I think so," she says.

"I won't be watching your fear landscape today. Josh is going to stand in for me," I say.

"Why?"

"Max didn't want your ranking to come into question," I say.

"You will still be there, won't you?"

"Of course. I will be outside waiting for you when you finish," I say. "But I will have to leave straight after. I will need to meet with the other leaders to finalise the rankings."

"Good," she says.

"Are you to decent?" We hear Caleb call out from the other side of the door.

"Yes," we both call back at the same time.

Caleb comes into the room and sits on our bed with us.

"So what's the plan for today?" he asks.

"Fear landscapes are today. Then the final rankings are announced. After all that Dauntless drink themselves into oblivion," I say.

"So big day," he says.

"You could say that. Half the compound will be drunk before lunch," I say.

"I suppose I am going to have to get used to all this," Caleb says.

"Yeah. You are going to love it here," I say.

"When does my training start?"

"Next week. We have organised a trainer for you. We will give you a condensed version of our usual initiation program. Then you can pick a job and get an apartment," I say.

"So, it's okay for me to stay here until then?" he asks.

"Yeah of course," I say.

"This is all really exciting," Tris says. "I'm so glad you decided to stay here."

"I am too," Caleb says. "So am I able to leave this apartment now that everyone has agreed that I can stay?"

"You are free to roam the compound but you can't leave the compound without a member. Once you have finished your initiation then you can do whatever you want."

"You can sit with me while I wait to go through my fear landscape today," Tris says.

"That doesn't sound like much fun," Caleb says.

"Well you could go down into the Pit and wait with the Dauntless born initiates. I'm sure Uriah will be happy to help you get drunk," I say.

"I think I might hang with you, sis. I don't know if I'm ready to start partying like Dauntless do," Caleb says.

"If you are going to drink, just take small sips. Don't let anyone convince you that you should drink more," I say.

"Sounds like you learnt from experience," Tris says.

"Having Zeke as your friend, you soon learn how to tolerate alcohol," I say. "That and I have had my fair share of nights with my head in a toilet bowl."

We all laugh at this.

"We better getting moving," I say. "I have to be in the fear landscape room in an hour. Let's go get breakfast."

"Sounds good to me," Caleb says. "I will be glad to finally get the chance to eat in the dining hall."

* * *

We reach the dining hall and the place is a hive of activity. We walk over to our table and I see that Zeke has already started drinking. He is in the middle of trying to convince Rita to have a sip to help her through her fear landscape.

"Zeke," I say. "Leave the poor girl alone. She has enough to worry about today without being drunk for her final test."

"Come on Four," Zeke whines. "It will do them all good to have a bit."

"Put it away. You will have passed out before the rankings are announced if you keep going on like this," I say.

"Fine," he says.

"This is crazy," says Caleb.

"I know," says Tris. "Don't you just love it?"

"It is definitely more exciting than Erudite ever was," Caleb says.

"There to stuck up to know how to party," says Uriah.

"Just remember you all have to pick a job tomorrow. So think about it today because you don't want to try and pick with a hangover," I say.

"You are in full leadership mode today," says Zeke.

"Yes I am," I say. "Shauna, did you finally pick an apartment?"

"Yes, Zeke was bored by the second one. But eventually I found the one I wanted."

"It is just an apartment Shauna," Zeke says. "I don't know why we had to look through so many. Especially when you picked the first one we had seen in the end."

"Because _Zeke_ ," Shauna says. "It isn't often that you get to choose. None of these guys will get to choose their apartments, they will just be given a key and told to go find it. So I wanted to make sure I was happy with my choice."

"I agree with you Shauna," says Christina. "Having a choice of an apartment is exciting."

I tune out of the rest of that conversation. I'm with Zeke on this one. Although I have a really nice apartment so I wouldn't really know.

"I've got to go," I say. "I need to set up the room before you all arrive. Good luck guys."

I turn and give Tris a kiss. "I'll see you soon. You are going to do well," I say.

"Thanks," she says and gives me a hug.

TRIS POV

Tobias leaves and you can see that everyone is starting to realise just how real this is. We only have a couple of hours until initiation is over. We know that we will pass, now we just have to worry about our ranking. Even though I have been offered some amazing choices as jobs, I still have to get a high rank to be able to choose one of them.

"You look nervous," Caleb says.

"I am starting to feel that way," I say. "What if I don't rank well enough and have to take a crappy job?"

"That won't happen," Caleb says.

"How do you know?" I ask.

"Because you have worked so hard for this. Remember I was there for all that work you put in before you got to Dauntless," Caleb says.

"Well now it will be able to help you too," I say. "Lucky Lynn made you participate."

"Yeah. All I can think about is how she knocked me down that time, it scares me that I won't be able to cope with what they make me do in training," Caleb says.

"Well I can help you. We can train together."

"That would be great. Thanks Tris," Caleb says.

We are broken from our private conversation with Lynn announcing that it's time for the Dauntless borns to go. I get up from the table.

"Where are you going?" Christina asks.

"To support my friends," I say.

Caleb and I follow our friends out of the dining hall and up to the fear landscape room. There are benches that we can sit on. But not enough for everyone. Lynn, Caleb and I decide to just sit on the floor. There is so much going on, there are members everywhere. They keep hooting and hollering, it's really crazy. I can see Tobias and the other leaders inside another room. They are getting hooked up to the computers. Then Kat, the Dauntless born who is in last place is called into the room.

I am glad to be sitting on the floor. I can't see what is going on, although Uriah is giving everyone a running commentary of what he thinks is going on. I can see that will get on all our nerves very soon.

"Do you know what job you want?" I ask Lynn.

"Yeah. I have already been offered a job," Lynn says.

"Really? Why didn't you tell me?" I ask.

"Four asked me to keep it a secret until job choosing. They aren't offering the position to anyone else. What about you?"

"That is exciting Lynn. Are you happy with the choice? Max has offered me something as well but I still think I would rather be an ambassador," I say.

"I love the job that I am going to have. The bonus is that I will be living near Shauna and you and Four. Ambassador's good. I think you would be good in the role. You would get a pretty decent apartment with that job," Lynn says.

"I'm moving in with Four," I say. "So I suppose it doesn't really matter what job I get when it comes to apartments."

"Is it really that different?" Caleb asks.

"Not really. The leadership wing is more fancy, bigger rooms nicer appliances. That sort of thing. But really it is what you make it. For my family we have a three-bedroom apartment. Which means I always had to share with Shauna until she went through initiation. But I didn't mind," Lynn says.

"What about you Caleb? Do you have any idea what you are going to do?" Lynn asks.

"I'm hoping that I can still become a doctor. I heard a rumour that there is another initiate who is going to be offered that position as well. So if it's true, then I would have someone to study with. It won't be as bad being in classes with a room full of Erudites because I will have another Dauntless member with me," Caleb says.

"That would be really cool. You know you get amazing apartments if you are working in the infirmary," Lynn says.

"Why is that?" Caleb asks. But I would have asked if he didn't.

"About ten years ago they realised they needed more apartments. Dauntless was growing and instead of having to bore into the walls like they have done with most of the other apartments, they decided to turn the top two floors above the infirmary into apartments. The top floor is for doctors. Which doesn't usually get used that much because we only have one doctor on duty who is a member. The other doctors travel from Erudite. Occasionally they stay over. But there are only four apartments on the top floor and from what I have been told they have panoramic views of the city. The nurses and a few other staff live on the floor below," Lynn says.

"Wow," I say.

"I agree," Caleb says.

"Well we need to look after our infirmary staff, heaven knows we all end up in there at one time or another. The happier the staff the better I reckon," Lynn says.

"Lynn," Tobias calls. Looks like it's Lynn's turn to go in.

"Good luck," I call out as Lynn gets up and moves towards the fear landscape room.

"Hi Tris."

I turn to see Josh standing in front of me.

"Hi Josh," I say.

"Do you mind if I sit?" he asks.

"No, come join us on the floor," I say. Josh sits down. "I don't think you've met my brother Caleb."

"Hi Caleb," he says.

"Josh," Caleb says.

"Josh is the new leader in training," I tell Caleb. "Congratulations by the way," I say to Josh.

"Thanks," Josh says. "You know Tris watching your fear landscape is going to be my first act in leadership.

"So that means you are probably going to remember it for a long time," I say.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Josh says. "Max told me that he wants you for the other leadership position. Do you think you will take it?"

"I don't know. I am leaning towards becoming an ambassador for the faction," I say.

"That would be a great choice," Josh says. "You will be able to see your father a lot if you take that position. You will also get to be out of the compound a lot."

"Do you want to be travelling all the time Tris?" Caleb asks.

"I think it would be interesting. I like the idea of going to the other factions, interacting with other people," I say.

"Well which ever one you choose I think you will be great at it. Four is really proud of you. He has been so much happier since you have been here," Josh says. "We should really get together and have dinner one night. I would love for you to meet my girlfriend."

"That would be nice Josh. I think we will have to wait until everything settles down a bit. Four said that once the trials are over they have decided to have a bit of a celebration," I say.

"Yes. You think today is insane. It is nothing to what Dauntless will be like in a few day's time. Max wants to be able to give everyone a few days off. But they have to stagger it over the week so that we still have Dauntless operational. He wants us to stand united after what has happened. I know it hit Max pretty hard that we had traitors amongst us. He had an idea something was going on but I don't think he ever thought it was this big," Josh says.

"I'm just glad we found out in time," I say.

"Me too," Josh says.

"Josh, Tris," Tobias calls us. "Time to go."

"Good luck Tris," Caleb says and gives me a hug. I am so glad he is here for this, that he will get to see me become a member of Dauntless. Hopefully in a few weeks he will be able to say he is a member as well.

"Good luck Tris," Josh says as he walks over to the other leaders and Lauren hooks him up to the computer.

I stand with Tobias as he injects me with the serum. "Be brave," he says and he walks out of the room. Here goes nothing I think to myself as the room around me changes.

I look down to see the floor has been replaced by long grass. I know what is coming. I hear the swooshing sound of its large wings as it descends towards me. I stand just waiting for the birds talons to start ripping into my shoulder.

I remember what Tobias said, that this is about control. I need to find a way for my heart rate to go down. Fighting the bird isn't going to help. I need to remember what makes me feel powerful. Then I remember the first day that Eric put the gun in my hand. That made me feel powerful.

I crouch down, running my hands through the grass hoping I can find what I am looking for. I can hear the flapping of more birds. I know that I need this to happen quickly, I can't let the birds get to me. Finally, I feel the cold metal and I grab it quickly between my fingers.

I shoot the bird that is still attached to my shoulder. Its talons are digging into my shoulder but before I need to scream from the pain the bird is blown away by the force of my shot. I look up to the sky and see the other birds that are about to attack me.

Before they get the chance to attack I start firing wildly at them. I see them, one by one falling towards the ground and with that I am feeling stronger, I feel I have all the power now and the birds don't stand a chance.

Once that feeling has washed over me I feel the room change and now I am in the Pit. I know what fear this is. It is my fear of weakness. I look and see that all my friends, including Tobias and Caleb, are standing in front of me. I put my hand up and I can feel the glass that is in front of me. I turn and feel the glass as it has formed a box around me.

I hate having to watch my friends think that this is amusing. Then the rushing water starts to fill the box. I know what I can do here. It is exactly what I had to stop myself from doing in the fear simulation. But now in my landscape I am able to manipulate the situation.

I punch the glass but nothing happens. So I raise my leg behind me and kick as hard as I can. Damn still nothing. I look down to see that the water is now at my knees. Do I just wait until it is above my head and let myself drown? No that is not who I am. I close my eyes and imagine that the glass is a very thin sheet of ice.

I open my eyes and look to see that the glass is no longer see through but has now turned to the sheet of ice that I willed it too. I punch as hard as I can and the ice shatters pushing not only the water but me out as well. I fall to my knees grateful to be out of the box and the room goes dark and starts to change again.

I stand still waiting for the next fear to hit me. And it does, literally, in the form of a large wave. I feel the air leaving my lungs as I fall into the largest body of water that I have ever seen. Then I remember I can't swim. I hold my arm out and as the next wave hits me I am pushed onto a rock. I cling as tightly as I can although the surface of the rock is slimy making it hard for me to hold on.

I feel the crash of another wave hit my body as I am slammed into the jagged edge of the rock. I feel the burn from the salt water hitting a cut that has formed from slamming into the rock. I can taste the salt on my lips and feel my clothes clinging to my body. I look to see how I can get out of this situation. Another waves hits and this is when I notice that after the wave has hit and just before the next wave hits me the water seems to disappear from around my body.

I wait for the next wave and after I have recovered enough from the force I pull myself up onto the rock. Silently thanking Lynn for helping me to become a stronger person physically. I don't know how I would have ever pulled myself up if it wasn't for my strength training with Lynn. I jump onto a less jagged rock and start to run away from the waves that have been crashing around me. Then everything changes again. I am standing here with dry clothes, I can no longer feel the taste of salt on my lips.

I look up to see that I am in the dining hall. A large crowd has gathered. It is the largest crowd that I have seen in Dauntless since Choosing Day. I wonder what I am afraid of here. I haven't seen this fear before.

I look around and then I see Max standing on a table, he has a microphone in his hand and he is hushing the crowd. "Caleb Prior," he calls out. I watch as Caleb gets up onto the table next to Max. I look next to me and see that Tobias is standing there. "What is going on?" I ask. "I'm sorry Tris," he says. "I couldn't stop this."

I look back towards Max as he says to Caleb, "Caleb you have not passsed Dauntless initiation. You are now factionless." I let out a scream. No I can't lose Caleb. What can I do? Wait. This isn't real, it's just a simulation. It will be fine. I walk over and grab Caleb's hand. I walk back over to Tobias and say, "Are you coming with us?" He nods his head and we all start to walk out of the dining hall together.

The room changes again and I am back in Abnegation. I walk into the family room and mum and dad are sitting in their normal chairs. While Caleb and Tobias are here too. But they aren't in their Dauntless clothes they are in Abnegation clothes. What? I remember this now.

I turn towards the kitchen and watch as Jeanine Matthews walks toward me with a gun in her hand. "It's time Beatrice," she says handing me the gun.

"I will give you ten seconds to kill your family or I will kill you," she says.

I want this over as quickly as possible. I hate having to watch my family as they beg me to just kill them. So I take the gun from Jeanine and I put the gun to my temple.

"NO!" My mother screams.

I know this is a simulation so I close my eyes and press the trigger. I hear the bang and then nothing. I open my eyes and see that I am now in our apartment. I haven't seen this fear before. I hear noises coming from our bedroom and I walk towards the door. Is that laughter? I walk into the room and see Lynn and Tobias in bed together.

"I'm sorry Tris," Tobias says. "I don't love you like this." And I have to watch as he passionately kisses Lynn. I feel like I am going to throw up. How do I get out of this simulation? Wait, that's right it is only a sim. I need to find a way to calm down. I can feel the tears that are falling down my face but I can't stop them.

This might not be real but it feels real. I need to lower my heart rate but at this moment I don't feel like I could possibly have a heart, it has been shattered into a billion pieces. I do the only thing I think could possibly calm me down, I walk out of the room. I can feel that my breathing isn't calming down, I almost feel I could hyperventilate at any moment.

I need to be able to stop this feeling. I can't get the picture of them kissing out of my head so I run as fast as I can. I know what to do now. I know how to get rid of this feeling. I hear the water before I even get there. I just keep running and once I am there I jump. As I look down and see the rocks with the water swirling menacing around them I think this will give me the peace I need.

I wake to find that I am standing in the middle of the fear landscape room. I can't believe what I just saw. I sit down on the floor and put my hands over my face and cry. I don't have the energy to do anything else. Next thing I know Tobias and Caleb are standing in front of me. I can't look at Tobias it just hurts too much. I know what I witnessed wasn't real but right now it does.

Caleb pulls me up and Tobias puts his arms around me. "Hey it wasn't real," he says.

"It felt it," I say. Holding so tightly to him.

"Congratulations Tris," Max says. "You've done it. It's all over now. I will see you in two hours for the rankings. Four, I need you for a short time so we can finalise the rankings."

"Go with Caleb and I'll meet you at home soon. Okay?" Tobias says.

"Yeah," I say. Tobias kisses the top of my head and then he is gone into the crowd of people.

As Caleb and I walk out of the fear landscape room people start patting me on the back and congratulating me. It isn't the nicest of things. I don't know these people and they all seem to want to touch me. Some don't even have a shirt on. Gross.

We quickly make our way to our apartment and once inside Caleb says, "do you want to talk about it?"

"Not right now. I think I just want to lay down for a bit," I say. I know that if I am going to tell Caleb about my fears then Tobias should know what they were as well. I don't want to have to tell the story twice so Caleb can just wait. I feel exhausted and just want to rest for a bit.

I walk into our room and I hear a sob come from my mouth. I can't believe how much that last fear is affecting me.

"Caleb," I call out. "I'm going to be in the other spare room if you need me."

I can't stand the thought of going into Tobias and my room, the memory of the sim is just to raw. With that I walk into the spare room and lie my head on the pillow and I am quickly taken into sleep.


	42. Chapter 42

_Sorry, rankings have been fixed. Don't know what happened but my word doc kept loosing the rankings._

CHAPTER FORTY TWO

TOBIAS POV

"Where's Tris?" I ask Caleb as I walk in the door.

"In the spare room," he says.

"What is she doing in there?"

"Sleeping. She said she wanted to lie down and when I went in there to get a book she was asleep on the bed," he says.

"Why wouldn't she sleep in our bed?" I ask.

"Don't know," Caleb says. "Where did you get all the books from?"

"Your old room," I say. "Every time we go and visit mum and dad Tris steals a couple of your old books out of your room. She says it makes her feel like you are closer."

"I thought you two hated reading," he says.

"No, we just didn't want you to know we enjoyed it. You would have talked our heads off," I say.

I walk into the spare room and Tris is asleep on the bed. I decide to lie down next to her and then I shake her shoulder. "Wake up sleepyhead," I say softly.

"Hey," she says as she rubs sleep out of her eyes.

"What are you doing in here?" I ask

"I couldn't face our room," she says.

"What was in your fear landscape Tris?" I ask

"Nothing," she says.

"Nothing? But you had six fears. There must have been something," I say. I actually already know. Max told me what had happened. But she can't know that I know. I need her to be able to tell me herself. I don't want her upset with me or Max about it.

"I'm glad you didn't have to watch it," she says.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

"Not really. But I will. Caleb asked me about it but I wanted to wait and tell you together. I didn't want to have to relive it twice," she says.

"We've got time; do you want to talk about it now? Get it out of the way?"

Tris just nods her head. So I shout 'Caleb' really loudly. I don't want to have to get back up and get him, it is also what Tris and I used to do when we all lived in Abnegation. It used to drive dad nuts when we would do it.

"What?" Caleb comes bursting into the room.

"Tris is going to tell us what was in her fear landscape," I say.

"Awesome," Caleb says.

"Only you could get excited over a fear landscape Caleb," Tris says.

"Just wait until he has to go through it," I say.

"I do," Caleb says. "I'm totally excited about being able to do that. Do you know how it works? It is really fascinating."

Tris sits up on the bed. Caleb is sitting crossed legged at the end of the bed and I am lying next to Tris.

"Well four of the fears were the same as you saw in my fear simulations. The crows," Tris says.

"Crows?" Caleb asks.

"Yeah, I got attacked by crows, it's a control thing. Then I was in the tank of water. Then in the body of water. Then I had the one that I was told to kill my family. Then I had two new ones. I didn't have the one where I was tied to the stake and Peter was burning me alive, which is good. So the next one was Max telling Caleb that he had failed Dauntless and that he was being kicked out," she says. She has a few tears falling. I sit up and wipe them away.

"Hey it's okay, Caleb wouldn't know how to fail at anything," I say. She gives a bit of a laugh.

"So what was the last one?" Caleb asks sounding extremely excited.

"It was horrible," she says. She lets out a small sob.

'Hey it's okay. It wasn't real remember?" I say.

"Yeah, I know. But it felt so real. I got home and found you and Lynn in our bed and you told me you didn't love me like that and you kissed her," she says.

"Well we both know that is never going to happen. Especially not with Lynn," I say hugging her to me as tightly as I can.

"Why couldn't that happen?" Caleb says.

"Caleb really? Is that the question you want to ask right now?" I say.

"You may be smart but geez you are so dumb some times," I say.

"What, it wasn't real, so?" he says.

"Well it didn't end there," Tris says. "I couldn't handle what I saw and I didn't know how I was going to calm myself down so I ran out of here and went and jumped into the chasm."

Tris is full on crying now. I don't think I have ever seen her this upset in my entire life. She has always been the strong one in our relationship.

"You would kill yourself over a broken heart?" Caleb asks.

"No, I don't think so. All I could think was that I needed to get out of the sim and it was the quickest way to do that," she says.

"Lucky you won't ever have to find out," I say. Tris half laughs and half sobs, it comes out as almost a snort. Which makes us all laugh.

"That is like extremely smart Bea," Caleb says. "To be able to keep your head enough to find the quickest way out of the simulation. That is brilliant."

"So what made you come in here?" I ask.

"I got home and it all just still felt so real and I saw our bed and it made me want to cry. So I came in here," Tris says with more tears falling.

"Does that mean we need to change rooms?" I ask.

"No," Tris says while nodding her head yes.

I have to stop myself from laughing at her response. "Let's just try and sleep in our bed tonight," I say.

"This bed is really comfy," Tris says.

"I think we should try and face your fear Tris," I say.

"Maybe," she says.

"Come on we need to get up. We have to go and see the final rankings," I say.

"Can't you just tell me?" she asks.

"No. You have to be there. Plus, don't you want to see how our friends went?" I ask.

"Fine," she says with a huff. "I just need to go and wash my face."

* * *

The dining hall is a mass of black. It feels like the whole of Dauntless is in this one room. The noise level is crazy. I watch as Tris is standing with our friends. Caleb included.

Max, Scott and I stand on a table at the end of the dining hall. Max has a microphone in his hand and he starts to speak. "Okay quiet down," he says. This is Dauntless and I don't think we really know how to be completely quiet. "QUIET!" he shouts.

"Thank you. Today we are welcoming a new group of members into our ranks. They have been through our most rigorous training program for initiates ever," he says. With this a cheer goes up.

"We believe in bravery," he says. Another cheer from the crowd. "We believe in taking action. We believe in freedom from fear and in acquiring the skills to force the bad out of our world so that the good can prosper and thrive. If you also believe in those things, we welcome you."

The room erupts in more hollers and hoot from the crowd.

"Today I would like to mention two initiates in particular," Max says. "Peter. Drew. Could you please stand." I watch as Peter and Drew both jump up onto a table. Peter has a smirk on his face. I can't wait until it is wiped off his face.

"The two initiates that stand before you decided that it would be fair to hold another initiate down while the other beat her. All because she was ranking above them," Max says.

The crowd becomes outrages at this. You can hear calls of, "cowards!" "throw them in the chasm" and a few other not so nice words that totally fit.

"Yes, well, if they were members they are some of the options we may have taken," Max says. "However they aren't members and I have decided that we don't need members who act the way these two do. So I would ask that both you Peter and Drew make your way over to the door. There are a few friendly guards waiting to escort you to the factionless sector."

I have to hold back from laughing as the smirk has been wiped off Peter's face and both he and Drew can see that there is a large crowd of people that they need to get past before they reach the door. Some have already started to throw food at them. Peter quickly jumps off the table and is trying to run toward the door with Drew close on his heels. Although most members are giving them a punch or a shove as they move past them.

"Okay now that we have been able to take out the trash," Max says. Of course there is more cheering. "It is time to let you see who our newest members are and their ranks. So please look up to the screen behind me. Congratulations new members."

We quickly jump from the table so that everyone can see the list and this is what it looks like:

1\. Tris

2\. Uriah

3\. Lynn

4\. Edward

5\. Marlene

6\. Gabe

7\. Jett

8\. Myra

9\. Kat

10\. Rita

12\. Mel

13\. Will

14\. Molly

15\. Blade

16\. Ash

17\. Christina

I quickly make my way over to our group of friends who are all hugging and congratulating each other. I walk over and give Zeke a hug. "Congrats man. You must be proud of him," I say.

"Damn Four. Couldn't you have given him seventh place?" Zeke says. I look at him puzzled. "We had a bet going that he couldn't beat my ranking. Now I owe him my Dauntless cake for a month."

I can't help but laugh. This is going to be so funny to watch for the next month. "Don't laugh at me man," Zeke says. "This is a tragedy."

"I think you will survive Zeke," I say. "Now I have a girlfriend I need to congratulate."

I walk up to Tris who is hugging Lynn. Glad she isn't being weird around Lynn after the fear landscape. I can't help but to hug them both. I don't know what Tris would have ranked if Lynn hadn't helped her but I do know that it made stage one a lot easier than it could have been.

"Congratulations," I yell so they can both hear me.

"Thanks Four," Lynn says. While Tris lets go of Lynn and hugs me close to her. "I'm proud of you," I say.

"I love you," Tris says.

"Oh dear," Lynn says next to us.

"What?" I say.

Lynn just points. We probably couldn't hear her unless she shouted anyway. A few feet away Will and Christina look like they are in a heated conversation. Will is pointing his finger up and down like he is scolding a child. Christina has arms flailing around her, like she is speaking with her hands. Next thing we see is Will storming out and Christina slumping to the floor.

"Quick, we need to get her before someone steps on her," I say. Tris and I rush over and I pick her off the ground and put her on a seat.

"What happened?" Tris asks sitting next to Christina.

"He dumped me," she says through tears. "He said it was my fault that he ranked so low. That if he had trained harder and not spent all his time with me then he wouldn't have to get a job as a fence guard."

Tris has put her arm around Christina and I am crouched down in front of her.

"That's not true," I say. It may be a little. But she doesn't need to hear that right now. "Christina go and celebrate with your friends," I say. "Don't let this take away the fact that you are now a member of Dauntless."

"Thanks Four," she says.

"What's up?" Lynn asks. Tris tells her what has happened and in true Lynn style she tells Christina, "screw him."

"Tris," Max calls. "Congratulations on coming in first."

"Thank you," Tris says.

"Have you thought about what job you would like to have?" Max asks.

"Yes. I think I would like to stick with ambassador," Tris says.

"I will note that down. I still need you at the job choosing tomorrow to make it official," he says. "Four can you please offer the position to Uriah? I am not going to offer the job to a lower ranked initiate and I don't want it on the advertised list of jobs."

"Sure, I'll talk to him before the job choosing," I say.

We stayed in the dining hall for hours. I think every member in the dining hall came and congratulated Tris on ranking first. We would usually have had a banquet but we are going to wait until the trials are over. It was after midnight before we got to go home. I still had to have interviews with the initiates tomorrow morning before job choosing in the afternoon. It is going to be a long few days to come.

* * *

I spent the morning with Max and Scott. We interviewed the new members that were ranked sixth to twelfth to see what interests they had in the hope it would help us to give them two options to pick from at job choosing. Now I am standing with Max while they come up and tell us what they would like for a job. We also have Alice here from housing to organise where they are all going to live. Most will have to share and depending on their rank will also make a difference on what type of apartment they get.

So this is how the job choosing went:

Tris – Ambassador – living with me.

Uriah – Leader in training – leaders wing, Marlene moving in with him.

Lynn– Personal trainer and sniper – leaders wing, Rita sharing with her.

Edward – Weapons development – moving in with Myra.

Marlene - Assistant to leaders – leaders wing, with Uriah.

Gabe – Control room – sharing with Jett.

Jett – Tattoo parlour – sharing with Gabe.

Myra – Doctor – doctor's quarters with Edward.

Kat – Control room – sharing with Josh and Mel.

Rita – Nurse – sharing with Lynn.

Josh – Kitchen – sharing with Kat and Mel.

Mel – Retail – sharing with Kat and Josh.

Will – Fence guard – sharing with Blade and Ash.

Molly – Fence guard – sharing with Christina.

Blade – Fence guard – sharing with Will and Ash.

Ash – Fence guard – sharing with Will and Blade.

Christina – Fence guard – sharing with Molly.

The only person who was upset was Christina but Alice told her she could sleep on the floor in the pit if she wasn't happy. Tris felt bad for her and tried to convince me to let her stay with us. I put my foot down, there was no way I was letting her stay with us. She was still really upset with being dumped by Will. That was until Gabe asked her out. We will all have to stay tuned for what happens with them.

Caleb is also going to be studying to be a doctor. So he will be moving up to the doctors wing. It is good that he and Myra will be able to study together. He also asked Rita out on a date. I think it will be good for both of them. Rita is going to be working in the infirmary as a nurse so they will be spending a lot of time together. The first six months Rita has to go to Erudite for training. Caleb, Myra and Rita have already agreed to share an apartment in Erudite. They only have to be there four days a week so they will spend three nights a week in Erudite and the rest of their time in Dauntless.

Myra was excited that she would be able to see her family again. Although from what Cara told me, they are all going to be so busy with their studies they won't have much time to socialise. Caleb and Myra will be doing this for the next four years. Caleb still needs to do his initiate training; I have given him Lynn as his trainer. But that is only going to take a few weeks. Training for him at Erudite doesn't start for another two months so he and Myra will just work in the infirmary helping wherever needed until then.

Max has asked that Uriah and Tris start their jobs tomorrow. He wants all leaders and leaders in training and ambassadors at the trials tomorrow. He wants us to show a united front. Scott has been spending most of his days at the trials. Watching the ten members who were also implicated in the mess questioned. We have to sit down next week and decide what to do with them. I haven't read over the trials yet so I have no idea how deep they were in on any plans. I will just have to wait and see. Eric is the first trial that I will be going to tomorrow morning. That will be followed by Vera and then Graham. If there is enough time we will also be watching Jeanine's trial tomorrow otherwise it will be the next day.

I have already heard that a lot of high ranking scientists from Erudite have been executed for their involvement in what happened. It seems that there were a lot of people who believed whole heartedly in what Jeanine was doing and had no regrets in what they had done. I have no sympathy for those people. To think that they wanted to control us and then kill innocent people including children, the thought just makes me sick.


	43. Chapter 43

CHAPTER FORTY THREE

TOBIAS POV

"Thank you all for coming," Jack Kang says as he greets us in the foyer of the Candor compound. "Before we go up there has been a change to the proceedings today. Firstly, Eric will be going last. He was rushed to Erudite a few days ago, they had to remove his appendix. Doctors say they will release him in a few hours. Secondly, Vera hung herself in the cells last night, so we will be having Graham, then Jeanine followed by Eric questioned."

I'm surprised that Vera hung herself. I wonder what secrets she's taken to the grave? We all get into the elevator and all you can hear is silence. No one is talking, which is unusual because both Uriah and Marlene are in the elevator with us. Max decided that Marlene should be here as well, he thought it would be a good learning experience for her. I think he just wanted to show strength in numbers.

When we reach the room where the interrogations will be held I can already see that the room is full to capacity. Jack ushers our group to an area at the side that has been reserved for leaders of the factions.

"Dad," I say and give him a hug. Tris comes up and does the same.

"How are you both?" Dad asks.

"Good," I say.

"What about you Beatrice? Why are you here?"

"I'm good dad," she says. "I am now an ambassador for Dauntless. Max asked that all leaders and ambassadors be here for this."

"Well done," dad says. "I'm so proud of you both. How is Caleb?"

"Caleb is good. He has decided that he is going to become a doctor for Dauntless," Tris says.

"That is good to hear. I am glad he is well," dad says.

"Don't you think you should tell dad how you went in initiation?" I say.

"I got first," Tris says and is blushing.

"Who would believe that both of you got the number one ranking. I can't tell you how proud your mother and I are of both of you. And tell Caleb we are proud of him too, it would of taken him a lot of courage to go against Jeanine," dad says.

"Attention," Jack calls out. "My name is Jack Kang I am a leader here in Candor. Niles will be the questioner for the proceedings today. Please take your seats so we may begin."

People start to take their seats as Jack calls out, "Bring in the first."

There is a deathly silence as we watch Graham who is shackled brought into the room and sat down. I watch as Niles talks to Graham. I can't hear what he is saying but I watch as Graham rubs an alcohol wipe on his own neck. A woman passes Niles a black box, when he opens it I see him pull out a large needle and injects the bluish liquid into Grahams neck.

I watch as Graham's demeanour changes. He has gone from sitting straight in his chair to slouching slightly and his eyes now looked glazed.

"I will ask you a series of simple questions so that you can grow accustomed to the serum as it takes full effect," says Niles.

It already looks to have taken full effect from the body language Graham is showing. But I don't really know much about the truth serum. All I really know is what Christina told us.

"What is your name?" Niles asks.

"Graham Sanders."

"What are the names of your parents Graham?"

"William and Avery Sanders."

"What is your faction of origin?"

"Erudite."

"Which faction did you transfer too?"

"Dauntless"

"Which faction are you loyal too?"

"Erudite."

The silence is broken by the whispers around us. If it was just one person you probably wouldn't have noticed but because so many are now talking amongst themselves, it is quite loud.

"Silence," Jack calls to the crowd. Who quickly quieten back down.

"Why did you transfer to Dauntless if your loyalty is with Erudite"

"Norbert told me too. While I was still a dependant he came to me and asked me to transfer to Dauntless. Then when he retired and Jeanine took over the leadership role in Erudite I followed her."

"Did you know the tracking serum that Jeanine wanted you to inject Dauntless members with was a long range simulation serum?"

"Yes. Jeanine believed that Erudite and in turn herself should be in charge of the council. She didn't think that Abnegation were governing the city adequately. So she planned to have Dauntless murder the members of Abnegation."

"Did you believe in what Jeanine was doing?"

"Yes."

"Who else in Dauntless was in on your plan?"

"Vera. Along with Seb, Jane, Nicole, Matt, Cam, Mike, John, Jimmy, Bob and Frank."

Eric's name hasn't been mentioned. I quickly write a note for Niles to ask Graham about Eric's involvement.

"No other leader was involved?"

"No."

"What about Eric Coulter? Intel suggests he was to play a large part in this."

"I hadn't had a chance to talk to Eric yet. Jeanine had him on another project."

"What project was Eric working on?"

"He was hunting Divergents."

Another outbreak of whispers go around the room. But as soon as Jack stands up to quieten them everyone goes silent.

"Graham Sanders I have one last question to ask. We ask all Candor this question before we end an interview. What is your deepest regrets?"

"That I chose Dauntless. I would have been happier in Erudite. Dealing with the members of Dauntless was tiresome."

I round of "Thank you for your honesty," can be heard from the Candor in the room.

Jack stand up. "We will be handing the prisoner over to Dauntless at the end of the day. It will be up to Dauntless to decide on what his punishment shall be."

"Shoot him," someone yells out. "Yeah," more people yell in agreeance.

"Thank you," Jack says. "I would appreciate quiet so we can bring in the next person for interrogation. You can take up with Dauntless leadership any forms of punishment you feel would be appropriate once the interrogations are over."

Thanks Jack, I think to myself. I am sure Max is going to be inundated with creative ways to execute Graham once we are back home.

I watch as Jeanine Matthews is brought into the room. She is not looking her usual smart self. Her clothes are wrinkled. She looks years older without her makeup and slick hair do. They shackle her to the chair. Just like with Graham a woman hands Niles the black box with the needle in it. Niles injects Jeanine and as he is moving away from her something in the crowd catches my eye.

I watch as Tori stands up pointing a gun towards Jeanine. "This is for Georgie," Tori yells.

"No Tori," Tris calls out.

But it is too late, Tori shoots and I watch as the bullet hits Jeanine square between the eyes. Now I know why Tori has been in the training room the past few days.

The room has gone into utter chaos. People are trying to run to the nearest exit. I move toward Tori, ready to disarm her but there is no need. She has sat back on her seat and handed her gun to a lady in Amity colours. The poor woman is shaking from head to toe. I take the gun from the poor woman and ask Tori to stand.

I hate having to do this. Tori and I are friends, Tris and Tori are friends. I don't actually know anyone who doesn't think of Tori as a friend. But I now have a job to do. "I'm sorry Tori but I am going to have to handcuff you," I say.

"It's okay Four," Tori says.

By now I have five Dauntless guards circling around us. I look up to Cameron and he hands me his handcuffs. We all know that Jeanine deserved to die. But we would have liked to have heard what she had to say. I can also see from the relief on Cameron's face that he didn't want to have to be the one to handcuff her.

I put the handcuffs around Tori's wrists, making sure they aren't going to rub and hurt her wrists. We all learn that if you want to really piss off someone you are arresting then you make sure the handcuffs are as tight as possible, guaranteeing that they will rub the skin off the person's wrists. I could never do that to Tori.

"Cameron, can you please take Tori back to Dauntless?"

"Yes sir."

"I will come and see you when we get back Tori," I say.

"Thank you Four," She says. There is no emotion in her voice. It worries me just how shut down she seems.

I walk back over to where I was sitting before this happened. Wrapping my arm around Tris who is visibly upset at what has happened.

"I have called an hour long recess so that we can get this mess cleaned up. We have a room setup for all of you. I will have food and beverages brought in," Jack says.

We follow the woman who was handing Niles the injections to a conference room. It has a large oval table in the middle of the room, as well as a few lounges.

The door to the conference room opens and six members of Candor walk in with food on trays. I look at my watch and see that it is already noon. I can't believe that we have been here for over three hours. But the smell of the food makes me realise just how hungry I am.

We sit around the conference table, there are eleven of us from Dauntless along with another nine from Erudite, Amity and Abnegation. The Candor delegates decided to eat in their cafeteria.

"What will happen to Tori?" Tris asks.

"I'm not sure," I say.

"Who is George?" Uriah asks.

"It was her brother," Tris says. "Tori believes that Jeanine had him killed for being divergent."

"So she could go with an insanity plea," Uriah says.

"Have you been watching those old cop shows again Uriah?" Marlene asks.

"No," Uriah says.

"What's an insanity plea?" I ask.

"Uriah watches these old cop shows from before the war," Marlene says. "They have all these really crazy excuses that criminals use to try and get out of going to jail."

"They aren't crazy excuses Mar, some of them are really clever," Uriah says.

"What do we do with Tori Max?" I ask.

"I don't know. We all know that Jeanine would have been executed for her crimes. But we needed to have her interrogation to be able to do that. Now I don't know what we are going to do. I really don't want to have to execute Tori for murder. I am going to have to go over our rule book, see exactly what it says. See if I can find a loop hole," Max says.

"Don't you think that is a little unfair?" Camille from Erudite says. "You are quick to tell us that Jeanine should have been executed for planning to murder but you want to save your own member for cold blooded murder."

"Camille I really don't think this is the time for this," Cara says.

"Well when is the right time Cara? We all know that you hated Jeanine. I bet you are glad she is dead," Camille says.

"Camille some of what you are saying is correct. But planning to kill hundreds of innocent people is not to be compared with Jeanine being murdered," Max says you can hear the anger in his voice. "Tori is a member of my faction and we will deal with her."

"I'm sure you will just brush it under the carpet," Camille says. "Dauntless are supposed to be our protectors and it looks like all they do is cover things up."

"Camille I think you are forgetting that one of our leaders has been found guilty today," Max says. "I can assure you that Dauntless will have no problem executing him for his crimes."

Just as Camille is about to answer Jack enters the room and tells us that it is time for Eric's interrogation to begin.

Before we leave the room Joanna Reyes from Amity stops and talks to Max. I can't hear what they are saying but Max seems to relax talking to her. I even see a slight smile on his lips before they end their conversation.

We walk back into the room we were in only an hour ago and find that there are a lot less people here. The shooting must have scared them away. We take our seats and watch as Eric is brought in and Niles prepares him for questioning.

"Please state you name," Niles says.

"Eric Coulter."

"What are your parents' names?"

"Raymond and Sonya Coulter."

"What is your faction of origin?"

"Erudite."

"Which faction did you transfer too?"

"Dauntless."

"Which faction are you loyal too?"

"Dauntless." There are murmurs throughout the crowd.

"Did you know the tracking serum that Jeanine wanted you to inject Dauntless members with was a long range simulation serum?"

I find that it is strange that he is asking Eric this question because Graham already said he didn't know.

"No. Graham asked me to meet with him about the tracking serum but I was training initiates and didn't have time."

"Would you have gone along with what Jeanine had planned?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because it would have been Graham who asked me too. As a member of Dauntless you do what you are told without question."

"Graham told us that you were hunting divergent's for Jeanine. Is this true?"

"Partly."

"How many divergent's have you killed?"

"None."

Tris and I look at each other. You can see the surprise on our faces. I could say that I am completely shocked with this answer.

"Can you explain this please?"

"The orders came directly from Jeanine. She isn't a leader of Dauntless so I made it look like I was following her."

"Did anyone else help you with this?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell us the name of that person or persons?"

"No. I just know they are from Abnegation. We never met in person. We had a drop off point where we left information for each other. I also had help from Tom Stanton a dauntless member. He was helping divergents' when I came to Dauntless. He showed me what to do. When he failed with someone that Jeanine wanted killed she had Vera murder him. I took over the job in Dauntless after that."

So that was what Vera was trying to hide. She must have known it was going to come out. But killing yourself, I don't think I could do that. I couldn't kill someone the way she did either.

"What became of the people you pretended to murder?"

"I don't know. I would get the person out of Dauntless, make it look like an accident or suicide. That is where my part ended. I didn't want to know."

Could Tori's brother George still be alive? What about Amar?

"Where did you get the bodies from?"

"The morgue. We have a lot of the factionless use our morgue, it is closer than Erudite. So I would use them."

"One last question Eric. What is your deepest regrets?

"That I didn't beat Four. He was number one in our initiation class; I wish I could have beaten him, also I wish I had beaten him to become Dauntless leader. And that I didn't get the chance to ask out Tris, Four doesn't deserve her. He doesn't deserve any of what he has . . . I do."

I just sit there as I watch the room empty. I really don't know how to react to what Eric has just said. The whole taking bodies from the morgue is just creepy but he was saving other people's lives. But then it makes me wonder if Amar and George are alive. How many other people who were thought dead are alive also?

Then there are the regrets that he has. I don't know what to think.

"Talk about some exciting revelations," Uriah says a little to excitement in his voice.

"Did you know that is how he felt?" Uriah asks.

"I knew he hated me. But I didn't really know why. I thought it was because of where I was from. I knew he had taken to helping Tris whenever he could but I thought he was trying to get into Max's good grace so he could get a leadership position," I say.

"What about you Tris? Did you know?" Marlene asks.

"Not a clue. I mean I knew he was nicer to me than most of the initiates but I didn't know why," Tris says.

"Well I think it is time we get back to Dauntless," Max says. "We have a lot to discuss."


	44. Chapter 44

CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

TOBIAS POV

It has been a week since the trials. Graham was executed as soon as we got back to Dauntless, the day of his trial. Max didn't want to have to listen to member's suggestions of how we should have him executed. So he took Graham into the Pit pulled out his gun and shot him on the spot. Not the usual way that it would have been done but just as effective.

It started a week long party in Dauntless. We finally got to have the new members banquet and from there it was one long week of drinking, dancing and hangovers. I'm glad it's finally over and we can get back to work.

Tori and Eric are still in cells at Dauntless. We are about to have a meeting to see what we are going to do with both of them. We also need to start training Josh and Uriah. Tris started her job as an ambassador yesterday. She seems happy, she will be the faction ambassador for Abnegation. Which means getting to see dad a lot. The Abnegation ambassador for Dauntless doesn't like to come to our compound unless it is absolutely necessary. Can't blame the person really, I would find it overwhelming coming here if I had decided to stay in Abnegation.

I walk into the meeting room and find Josh and Uriah already here. "Morning," I say.

"Four," Uriah says. While Josh just nods.

"What's on the calendar today?" Josh asks.

"We need to talk about Tori and Eric," I say.

Max and Scott walk in just as I finish my sentence. "Good morning," Max says.

"Let's get this started," Max says as we all take a seat.

"First let's talk about Tori. Scott has been in talks with Johanna from Amity and I think we have found a solution to this problem," Max says. "Now Josh and Uriah, I am happy to hear input from both of you but until you are out of training we will not be allowing you to vote on issues."

"So Johanna has offered us a solution for dealing with Tori," Scott says. "She is willing to let Tori go and stay in Amity for a time period that we feel is fitting the crime. There she will be given extensive counselling and a work program to complete. What do you think?"

"I think it's a great idea," I say. I didn't want to see Tori executed and I couldn't have dealt with sending her to the factionless.

"So do I," says Max. "Now we need to decide how long should we have her stay?"

"I think that it should have a clause in the time period," Scott says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well if her councillors don't think she is ready to return to us then she should have to spend longer in Amity," Scott says.

"What about two years? Then if she needs to stay longer she does. But, she can't come back before that time period is up even if they think she can," I say.

"I would be happy with that," Max says. "Does anyone else want to add?"

"Will that be too long?" Uriah asks.

"Why do you think that?" I ask. I can see Uriah start to sink in his seat a bit. "Uriah it's not like I think what you are asking is wrong. Sit straight you are going to be a leader. I would just like to know your reasoning behind the question."

"Oh right, sorry Four," Uriah says. He sits straighter in his chair and puffs his chest out a bit. I am trying not to laugh. "Well, what I am thinking is that Tori is our best tattoo artist. Will having her gone for two years be too long."

"All of what you have said is true Uriah and I agree with what you have said, but saying that, we need to show that what she did was wrong. If we make it a shorter time frame it is going to make it look like we favoured her. I also think that two years is a reasonable amount of time for her to get the help that she needs," Max says.

"I agree with Max," Scott says. "Uriah, Four is right. You need to remember that you are training to be a leader now. Be confident in what you are asking and be even more confident when you are asked a question. It will be good training for when you have to take on full leadership responsibilities with our members.

"Scott can you take Tori to Amity this week?" Max asks.

"I can do it tomorrow," Scott says.

"Do you think I could do it?" I ask. "It would mean a lot if I could be the one to take her."

"Four you can take Tori," Scott says. "I'll let Johanna know you will be there tomorrow."

"Now what should we do with Eric?" Max asks.

"Shoot him," says Josh.

Max starts to laugh. "I'm sure most people would agree with you Josh but the only charge we have him on is stealing dead factionless. And he has helped to save some of our members from Jeanine," Max says.

"I am not having him near the initiates anymore. I don't need to keep having him turn up in half the initiates fear simulations," I say.

"Remember when he was in leadership training and he totally disrespected the guys in maintenance?" Scott says. "Well why don't we give him a job with them?"

"Are you sure you want to do that?" I ask.

"Look, he is a total ass. I get that and I think that this is the best that we should offer him," Scott says.

"If we do this, it is going to upset a lot of people," Uriah says. "What is wrong with him going back to his IT job? He was good at it and I think we may want to punish him because we don't like him not because he deserves it. We have to remember that he saved people. And he did what we all would do, he followed the orders he was given without question."

"I think Uriah has some really good points," I say. Who would have ever thought I'd be saying that. "We can't punish him because we don't like him. I just think stealing bodies warrants a little more punishment than three weeks in a cell."

"What if we give him six more months in the cell?" Max asks.

"I don't think having him in a cell is productive," Josh says. "Why don't we have him on house arrest for the next six months and that he goes to work. He is only allowed to go to work and the dining hall. The rest of the time he is to be at home."

"I think that should work," Max says. "I will have him monitored by one of the patrol team. Does everyone agree?"

"Yes," Scott and I say at the same time.

"Now we need to talk about next week's council meeting. I would like to have a motion brought forward that people who are Divergent cannot be hunted or experimented on. What do you think?" Max says.

"I think it is a great idea," I say. "I think we need to go further though. I would like there to be a committee put together to monitor Erudite and their serums."

"I agree Four," Scott says. "I don't trust that Camille and I don't know anything about Cara or Fernando."

"Okay this is good," says Max. "Uriah you are going to help me to write up the motion for divergent people. Josh you work with Four on a motion to have the committee set up to monitor Erudite."

"What are we going to do about the factionless?" Scott asks. "We all know that they are becoming more and more like their own faction every day. I think we need to stop having Abnegation baby them and make them work for their handouts."

"We really need to talk to Abnegation about this. Scott have a talk to Tris, she is our ambassador to Abnegation now. She can talk to them; we will need to see what they think. We also need to look at what types of jobs are around the city that they could do," Max says.

"Abnegation would be the best to talk too about the jobs," Scott say. "Should we try to talk to Evelyn? See how the factionless feel about this."

"No, I think Evelyn would just try to block it. She wants control over the city and to rid us of our faction system. She is poisoning people's minds. We need to encourage them to break away from her. There are probably more factionless than any one faction. We need to split them up," I say.

"Scott, I think you and Four should look at this. Put a brief together that we can take to the other leaders. Let's get their input before we put a motion together," Max says.

* * *

"Thanks Four," Uriah says to me as we walk to the dining hall for lunch.

"What?" I ask.

"For what you said in the meeting. I didn't even realise that I had slouched when you questioned me. I need to look at how I do things," Uriah says.

"Uriah you wouldn't have been offered the position if we didn't think you could do it. You will get the hang of it. It takes time. There were only two people that Max would offer the position to this year. You and Tris, If you hadn't taken it then we wouldn't have been offering it to another initiate. Remember that you earned the position and that you won't learn it all over night."

"Thanks," Uriah says.

"Now let's get in the dining hall so you can take Zeke's cake off him," I say. "I'm really enjoying watching him have to hand it over."

"Ha, yeah it's great and all but now I am having to work out twice as much to work off the damn cake," Uriah says and we both laugh. "But I'm not going to tell Zeke that."

"Hey," I say as I sit down next to Tris.

"Hey," Tris says.

"We decided how we are going to punish Tori," I say.

"She isn't being executed is she?" Tris asks.

"No, two years in Amity," I say.

"How is Tori going to last two years in Amity?" Zeke says.

"Well she doesn't get a choice," I say. "She should be grateful that she got that as a punishment," I say.

"I would think death would be easier," Zeke says.

"I'll remember that if you ever decide to shoot someone," I say. I'm starting to get pissed at Zeke.

"What? It's not like you would have executed her," Zeke says.

"Yes it is Zeke. It doesn't matter that Jeanine was pure evil. We can't just go around killing everyone who is. We have processes that we need to uphold," I say. "I agree that Jeanine needed to be put down but if we don't go about it the right way then we are no better than them."

"I guess," Zeke says. He is just about to take a bite out of his cake when Uriah takes it out of his hand. "What are you doing?"

"The bet was for a month Zeke, not a week," Uriah says.

"Maybe I will just let you shoot me Four," Zeke says.

"That's not funny Zeke," Shauna says. "Here, you can have some of mine."

"Thanks," Zeke says.


	45. Chapter 45

EPILOGUE

TOBIAS POV

It's been fifteen years since I first arrived here in Dauntless. Today is the day that Marcus will be receiving the memory serum. There aren't any factionless now. Over time the factionless have been reintegrated back into the factions. Criminals have been sent to jail. There are still a few who live on the streets but they are kept in a small area and watched carefully. Evelyn tried to fight the changes but her 'people' turned on her, they wanted better conditions and were happy with the changes we implemented. Evelyn refused to see reason and a woman named Therese, who was her second in charge, put a bullet in her head.

So although Marcus was meant to become factionless, he will be allowed to live back in Abnegation. He will never know that he has two children living there and thankfully in a few short hours he will not remember that I am his son. I haven't been to visit him; I hope that I will never see him again. I don't have the nightmares that I once did but occasionally it happens. Celine helped me to overcome them the best she could and I still see her if I feel I need too.

"What are you thinking about?" Tris says.

"Nothing much," I say. She is looking at me with that look she gets when she knows I am lying.

"I was thinking about how I have been in Dauntless for fifteen years," I say.

"And?"

"You know what I'm thinking," I say.

"Do you want to go and see him?" she asks.

"No, it wouldn't do me any good. I have a much better way to spend the day," I say.

"Dad," yells out Daniel as he jumps onto our bed. "What time are we leaving?"

Daniel is eight and we also have a daughter Kaitlyn who is ten.

"In about an hour," I say. Today Zeke, Uriah, Caleb, Edward and I are taking our kids and a few others for a game of paint ball. Tris is eight months pregnant so she is staying home.

"Well hurry up," Daniel says. "I don't want to be late."

"Good morning to you too Daniel," Tris says with a hint of sarcasm.

"Hi mum," he says and then gives her a hug.

"I wish I could be going with you guys today," Tris says to me as Daniel races out of our room to get ready.

"Well I'm glad you're not," I say. "I don't need you going into labour early. Is Lynn coming over?"

"Yeah, she said she is starting to feel like a beached whale. She wanted to know how I could have ever gone through pregnancy three times. She said this is her one and only and that if Tarni wants more kids than it is up to her to give birth," Tris says.

"I like you pregnant," I say while rubbing her swollen belly.

"I'm sure you do," Tris says with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"I heard you and Zeke talking about how you both like the pregnancy sex," Tris says.

I can't help but laugh. "I didn't know you heard that," I say. She laughs as she nods her head.

"Shauna did too. She went straight over to Caleb's and made him give her the contraceptive shot on the spot. It was really funny. He had to run down to the infirmary and get it for her because she refused to move from his home until he did."

"I think Zeke would be happy with that. He can't control Sam and Blake as it is," I say.

"Just wait until they are teenagers," Tris says.

"Don't even think it. It is bad enough that Sam has a crush on Kaitlyn now. I am dreading what they will be like in a few years' time."

Tris starts laughing at me. "What are you laughing about?"

"Sam might have a crush but do you really think he would try anything on Kaitlyn? He is way too scared of his Uncle Four," she says.

"Well it better stay that way," I say getting out of bed. "Do you think you'd want any more Tris?"

"Can we get this one out first?" she says. "I like being pregnant too, Tobias."

"You do?" I ask as I reach over and pull my wife out of bed. Kissing her once she is standing.

"I do," she says. Pulling away. "We are not going to get anything done if we don't start to get ready."

"I could just let the others take the kids," I say.

"Tobias we only have five weeks until we are going to have a new born in the house. Go and enjoy this time with Daniel and Kaitlyn."

"Got to go and kick Uriah's butt," I say.

"What? Like last time?"

"Hey, he was just lucky," I say.

"Sure he was," Tris says. "Just make sure you have your daughter on your team and you may just beat him."

"I know, she is too much like her mother. Do you know that she has never been on the losing team? How does that happen?"

"I've never lost either. Must be a Prior woman thing," she says.

"A Prior woman thing huh? Well there is going to be another one here very soon," I say rubbing Tris's belly. "Did you feel that?"

"Of course I did Tobias. She is in my belly," Tris says.

"Looks like we have another paint ball champion on the way," I say. Tris just shakes her head at me.

"Is Will going with you today?" Tris asks.

"No. Christina still won't let him see Jasmine," I say.

"This is getting ridiculous," Tris says. "I'm going to have to try and talk to her. Ever since Will got married she has been getting worse."

"It's Christina's own fault," I say. Christina and Will got really drunk at the initiation banquet and had a brief reconciliation. It only lasted while they were drunk and then Christina pushed Will away. Then when she found out she was pregnant Will tried to do the right thing but Christina didn't want a bar of it. Up until Will married Stella they had had joint custody. But now that has all changed and we all have to suffer for it. It is going to get worse once Christina finds out that Stella is pregnant.

"I know that Tobias. But you know how she gets," Tris says. "I just feel sorry for Jasmine."

"She is going to end up pushing Jasmine away if she keeps this up. She only has four years until she chooses and I wouldn't be surprised if she leaves," I say.

"Well hopefully she will stay so she can spend some time with her dad without Christina interfering," Tris says.

"So if Lynn is coming here, what is everyone else doing today?"

"Myra and Rita have to work. Shauna, Marlene, Christina and Tarni are going shopping."

There is a knock at the door and I answer the door to a smiling Uriah and his and Marlene's seven-year-old daughter Ashley. "Hey dude," says Uriah walking straight in.

"I thought we were meeting in the dining hall," I say.

"No. Shauna texted me and told me to meet here. Christina and Will are having a screaming match over I don't even know what in the dining hall. They are going to get food for all of us and bring it here," Uriah says.

Before I can close the door Caleb is walking in with his sons Jackson, six and Hamish four.

"What is everyone doing here?" Tris asks as she enters the room.

"There is a fight in the dining hall so everyone is coming here," I say. "Shauna is bringing food for everyone."

"Well let's set the kids up around the coffee table and the adults around the dining table," Tris says.

"There won't be enough room around the coffee table," I say.

"Put Kaitlyn, Daniel, Sam and Blake around the island bench in the kitchen," Tris says.

Edward then walks in with five-year-old Jessica, closely followed by a seven month pregnant Lynn and her partner Tarni and their four-year-old daughter Arabella.

The apartment is starting to look like a war zone with all the kids running around. Thank goodness they only have their paintball guns and we haven't given them any paintballs yet. Tris would kill me.

"Good morning Priors," Zeke says as he walks in the door with his family and a lot of food.

"Morning," everyone seems to shout out at once. Tris and I decided to keep her last name. I was always made to feel like I was a Prior and when we got married I could make it official.

We are all tucking into the food when our front door opens and then slams shut. We all look up to find Jasmine standing there. Tris goes over and gives her a hug while Christina then tries to sneak into the room without being noticed.

"Don't encourage her Tris," Christina finally says. "You should be scolding her for slamming your door."

"Christina go home," I say.

"What?" Christina says.

"You are obviously in a foul mood and we don't want our day dampened by it," I say. "Jasmine can stay here tonight and you can come back when you are feeling better."

"You can't just take my child like that Four," Christina says.

I walk over to Christina, I grab her arm and drag her outside.

"I am over your shit Christina. I'm not the only one. Your bitterness has got to end," I say.

"Did you know that whore is pregnant?" she spits at me.

"Stella isn't a whore Christina and I don't want to hear you talking about her like that. We wouldn't be having to listen to this shit if you hadn't pushed Will away. You keep pushing everyone away Christina and if you keep it up you will lose Jasmine as well. Do you really think she will want to stay in Dauntless if you keep acting this way," I say. "You pushed Gabe away to have a drunken fling with Will and then when he was willing to take you back you pushed Will away as well. So stop with the pity party. You did this to yourself. Everybody in my home right now has stuck by you and helped you over the years. But I'm not having it anymore. If you upset Tris or Lynn while they are both so heavily pregnant I swear I will throw you over the chasm myself."

"Now you are going to go back in there, apologize to your daughter. Then you are going to tell her that she can stay here tonight," I say. "Then I want you to go home and get your shit together. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Christina says.

We walk back into the room and Christina does exactly as I told her too and then leaves. Jasmine walks over to me and gives me a hug saying, "Thank you Uncle Four."

"It will all work out kiddo," I say.

"I hope so," she says. It breaks my heart that Christina keeps stopping Will from seeing her. I just hope she listens to some of what I have told her.

"Go and play with the others," I say. "You can stay with us tonight."

"Woah I haven't seen angry Four in a while," says Zeke.

"You haven't been to a council meeting," Uriah says.

"I am just sick of it. This sort of crap has been going on since her initiation," I say.

Tris waddles over and puts her arms around me. "We could all hear what you said. I probably wouldn't have said it like that but it needed to be said," she says.

"Well I have some exciting news," Marlene says. "I'm pregnant."

This has the room buzzing and congratulations and hugs are now embracing our dining room. Which is a good thing after what just happened.

"Are you sure you don't want to go and see him?" Tris says.

"No. That outburst wasn't about anything other than Christina. I saw how upset Jasmine was and I snapped. Today is supposed to be a fun day for all of us. With our schedules we hardly ever get to all be together like this," I say.

There is a knock at the door and we all turn as Daniel says, "Uncle Will."

Will and Stella walk in and Will says, "Christina just rang and told me I could spend the day with Jasmine."

Jasmine jumps up and gives her dad a hug. Hopefully this means that Christina has decided to calm down a little.

"Well I think we should get this party started," Uriah says. "Paiantballer's lets go."

"I think I'm going to stay here with Tris and Lynn," Marlene says.

"Well I'd be happier going paintballing than shopping," says Tarni.

"Me too," says Shauna.

"Stella do you want to stay with the rest of the preggo club?" asks Lynn.

"Yeah, thanks," says Stella.

"Okay before you all take off I need you to help clean up," Tris says. "Don't even start whining Uriah. The quicker you help the quicker you can all go."

"Fine," says Uriah. I just shake my head at him. He hasn't changed.

Once everything is cleaned up we head out for our day at navy pier.

TRIS POV

Once our partners and the kids leave. Us girls go and sit on the couch.

"Thank goodness they have all gone," Lynn says.

"How good is the peace," I say.

"I'm a bit shocked at Four," Marlene says.

"I think it is everything he has been holding in since the day he met Christina," I say.

"As usual she deserved it," says Lynn.

"Yeah," I say. "I know. I just feel sorry for her. I don't understand why she is always like this," I say.

"Tris you are just too nice to her. You always have been," Lynn says.

"Maybe," I say. "Let's talk about something else. Have you thought of a name Lynn?"

"Don't tell Tarni cause she will kill me for telling you but we are going to call him Blake," Lynn says.

"Do you and Four have a name Tris?" Marlene asks.

"We are going to call her Isabella," I say. "But that could change. We had a name picked out for Kaitlyn but then when we saw her we changed our minds."

I don't think it will really matter what we call her. If she is anything like her mum and dad she is more than likely going to change it. Just like we did when we took that jump all those years ago.

* * *

 _Dear friends, thank you for coming on this journey with me. Your support has been amazing. To everyone who has been willing to write a review, thank you. It means so much that you have taken the time to write a review. It really helps to motivate me to try and do a better job with each chapter I write. To everyone who has followed or/and favourited this story, thank you. I know that when I finish reading an authors story I always go to their profile page to see what stories they like to read and often that is how I find new stories to read. Even if you have only read my story but not reviewed, favourited or followed thank you to you too. I hope you have had as much fun as I have while reading this. I have other ideas and hope to be back here writing again soon. Once again thank you all for your support, I really can't describe just how important your support has been to me but please know I appreciate it all._


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